To Hell and Back URE V3
by Ron the True Fan
Summary: All of this has happened before. And all of it shall happen again. But the Cycle of man and machine going to war has been disturbed. When the rag tag Fleet appeared at Jachen Due, history was altered forever. And not for the best.
1. Prologue: All this has happened before

**AN: We don't own S**t.**

* * *

All this has happened before, and all of it shall happen again. An eternal cycle of man against his creations.

The Cylons were created by man. They rebelled. They evolved.

40 years later, they _returned_.

50298 survivors, led by the mighty Battlestar Galactica and hunted by the Cylons, flee to their only safe haven...the 13th Colony.

Earth.

But now, the cycle is disturbed. The Cycle _**ends**_.

* * *

Almost 80 ships flew in the void. Two heavily armed and armored guardians laid at their core. But an accident would change everything.

"Admiral, the fleet is ready to jump."

"Thank you, Mr. Gaeta." William Adama handed a clipboard to Pvt. Jaffee before turning his attention to the DRADIS console. "XO. SitRep."

"All ships are ready for jump, Admiral."

"Then execute the jump, Colonel." A cosmic mishap would change their fate, as the ships disappeared in flashes of light. As a great man once put it, there is no fate, but what we make.

* * *

 **A pivotal moment**

* * *

A fleet of warships approached a number of hourglass-shaped colonies in space, ready to unleash nuclear hell once more. Another fleet was poised to stop them and defend their home.

But things were about to change, and not for the better.

Standing near the forefront of the defending fleet of the hourglass-shaped colonies, was a machine which - to a colonial - would resemble a Cylon. A Red and Black machine, with large wings on its back, and bristling with weapons. Inside the machine, a young man with short spiked black hair, and crimson red eyes wearing a red flight suit narrowed his eyes as the opposing fleet approached.

' _Damn you Rau Le Creuset..._ ' Jaden Takeo thought as he growled, ' _I KNOW this is your damn fault… when I'm done with Blue Cosmos and the EA, your fucking NEXT! Screw any court-martials._ '

He was not the only one who had...less than pleasant words about their Leaders.

* * *

 **With the Invading Fleet**

* * *

In the group of the EA Fleet, similar but different machines were forming into groups. The majority were all colored blue with white limbs, their pilots confident that they could win since they have the numerical advantage.

However, the pilot of a single machine which had the blue replaced with red, and sporting a set of horns on it's head, and having a sort of winged backpack in place, did not share the same thoughts as his commanders.

The pilot wore a Aqua colored flight suit, with his helmet covering his whole head. The only things visible were his face, and strands of strawberry blonde hair, and his aqua blue eyes. The man appeared to be in his mid twenties, as he groaned irritably at the sounds of the _radical_ members of this operation.

' _Preservation this, Pure Blue World that!,'_ He thought angrily, ' _What a crock of bullshit! We're doing nothing but pure genocide, nothing more and nothing less! Fucking Blue Cosmos!'_

A flash of light within the ZAFT fleet suddenly deposited a small ship, roughly akin to a whale in shape right in front of a ZAFT warship. More flashes deposited more ships, all varying in size from small transports to a large ship with a massive dome. Two last flashes dropped massive ships, shaped like an alligator or a whale, in the middle of the massive mystery formation.

"WHAT THE HELL?!" The EA pilots shouted.

"WHAT THE HELL?!" The ZAFT pilots shouted.

"WHAT THE FUCK?!" The Three Ships Alliance pilots shouted as they just arrived at the scene.

* * *

 **Battlestar Galactica - CIC**

* * *

"DRADIS CONTACTS, ALL AROUND THE BOARD, MULTIPLE BEARINGS AND CAROMS!" Adama wondered what the frak was going on, but he didn't have time to ponder. "Action Stations! Put the fleet into Condition One!"

The two battlestars quickly mobilized, but they weren't quick enough to avoid a tragedy.

* * *

One of ZAFT's Nazca-Class destroyers was close to one of the civilian ships. It wasn't known whether the crew were paranoid or someone just panicked. The result was what mattered.

At 17:35 hours, September 26th, Cosmic Era 71, the ZAFT destroyer _Kluckenstern_ fired her two 225mm high-energy plasma cannons into the Colonial transport _Pyxis_. The two beams tore into the passenger liner, turning it into a flaming ball of molten debris.

"What the- WHAT THE FUCK?!" Jaden shouted on the open comm, "WHO FIRED THAT?! _KLUCKENSTERN_! GODFUCKINGDAMNIT YOU TRIGGER HAPPY MORONS!"

The response from the Colonials was quick and merciless. At 17:37 hours, the Battlestar Galactica began launching her Vipers and fired her 600cm dorsal cannons at the Kluckenstern, the four rounds tearing the destroyer apart before the remaining part of the ship exploded. ZAFT had just made the biggest mistake of the war. They pissed off the Colonial Fleet.

"Oh son of a - This is Commander Takeo to all ZAFT Forces!" Jaden shouted on the Comms, as his GuAIZ Experimental readied its weapons. "We've got more company! These guys sure as hell ain't OMNI! Focus on whatever's shooting you, if it's not shooting back, ignore it! Now we've gotta deal with these guys, AND THE EA! GOD DAMNIT!"

* * *

 **LCAM-X02A Dominion**

* * *

Muruta Azrael was three seconds from laughing his ass off in delight and terror. Delight because the Coordinators just pissed off two of the biggest warships he'd ever seen. Terror because those WERE the biggest warships he'd ever seen. "Launch the Peacemaker force." Yes, that would be perfect. Kill the monsters AND these invaders. Natarle Badgiruel simply looked at Azrael like he had gone insane. "Sir, those ships are MASSIVE! One nuke won't-" "THEN WE'LL USE ALL OF THEM!"

* * *

From the battle, the EA and ZAFT fleets were in a state of confusion as they found themselves not just fighting each other, but ALSO from whoever just decided to pop into the battlezone.

This was the sight that the Three Ships Alliance had arrived to, as the _Archangel,_ _Kusanagi_ , and _Eternal_ arrived at the scene, seeing the state of confusion that was Jachin Due.

"...the Fuck is going on over there?" Mu asked in the Strike's cockpit.

" _I wish had the answer Commander La Flagga,_ " said Kira in the Freedom, " _All I know is that a huge fleet of ships showed up out of nowhere and now everything is in chaos!_ "

" _This the_ Eternal _, Mobile Armors launching from EA fleet...they got nukes!"_ shouted one of the CIC operators on the pink colored ship causing everyone to gasp in shock and horror.

* * *

 **With the EA Fleet**

* * *

"OH SHIT!" shouted Lieutenant Senior Grade William "Will" Redington, as he dodged a swipe from a ZAFT GuAIZ before kicking the said unit in the face plate and then drawing his 105 Dagger's Beam saber and cleaving the ZAFT machine in half. However, his sensors went off alerting him to the large number of Moebius mobile armors. However, it was what they were carrying that caught his attention as he zoomed on the undercarriage.

His eyes widened in horror at what he saw.

"No...No fucking way...THEY WOULDN'T!" he said in a rage as he saw the MA's heading straight both for the PLANTs and the unknown fleet, "NO! I WON'T ALLOW IT! NOT AGAIN!"

The thrusters on the Aile Striker roared to life as he began his pursuit of the Blue Cosmos Task Force.

* * *

Battlestar Galactica

* * *

"DRADIS contacts! multiple heavy craft, on attack bearing!" Adama wasn't pleased to hear about that. They had already lost _Pyxis_ , and the _Astral Queen_ had suffered a major hull breach. And if the reports coming in were right, a giant Cylon just fired at Colonial One. Missed, but it was enough. "Dee, get our Vipers to perform interdiction for the civilians! We've already lost 3000 people: I'm not losing any-" Another alarm began blaring. "RADIOLOGICAL ALARM! The heavy craft are carrying nukes!"

"Belay my last order! All Vipers, intercept the nukes!"

* * *

The Viper squadrons kicked in full afterburner, heading for the then-unknown Moebius MA nuke launchers. The pilots of the said space fighters noticed the incoming interceptors heading straight for them.

" _HERE THEY COME_!" shouted one Moebius pilot before said mobile armor was destroyed by a beam shot, from _behind_ them. Luckily the nuke wasn't destroyed.

"What!?" The flight leader said said in confusion and shock, "From behind!?"

The Red 105 Dagger charged at them firing it's beam rifle at the Peacemaker Force MA's downing three more.

"YOU BLUE COSMOS FUCKS AREN'T HAVING YOUR WAY EVER AGAIN!" Will shouted, "I _WON'T_ LET THAT HAPPEN!"

The Dagger fired another series of shots, downing another two. But there were just TOO MANY of the damn things!

Thankfully, the Dagger wasn't alone. 30mm cannon fire tore into several MAs, killing the pilots and sending their craft into a spin. "Starbuck to all Vipers: give this guy a hand! Any of those nukes reach the fleet, we're as good as fraked! Racetrack, get this guy on the horn!"

* * *

A larger craft began moving toward Will's Dagger before it began flashing something at him...in Morse Code?

"What the?" he said, blinking as he read the message, "Need...A...Hand?"

Will's jaw dropped slightly at that, before he smirked and sent his own reply via the light on his Dagger's head.

"Be...my...guest," he said as he sent the message.

The craft then sent a sent of numbers via Morse: One, Eight, Nine, Zero, Two, Three, Five, followed by the letters K and H. 1890235? He knew Kh meant kiloHertz. He adjusted the radio to 189.235 kH first before he got a message "-peat, this is Lieutenant Edmonson, callsign Racetrack. Please respond on this frequency."

Will gasped before he responded, "This is Lieutenant SG William Redington, formerly of the Earth Alliance Space Forces. I hear you loud and clear, Racetrack!" he said, before he waited a good 430 seconds before he got a response.

Frantic cursing (mostly the word 'frak', whatever that was) was heard before he got another voice piping through. "This is Admiral Adama, commanding the battlestar Galactica. One of my pilots just informed me that you are a member of-" A faint explosion was heard as a GuAIZ exploded too close for comfort to the smaller of the two warships, which was probably Galactica. "Get those things away from my ship! We'll worry about Earth later!"

Will just blinked in confusion at that, before he shook his head and continued his mission of destroying every BC rat bastard Moebius he set his sights on. However 20 of the MAs managed to get through and were making a straight bee-line for the PLANT colonies.

"Admiral Adama sir! If you can hear me, have some of your people go after that flock of Moebius units before they release their payload! Those hourglass colonies have hundreds of thousands of people on them!"

However, before an answer was given, there was a stream of green, red and yellow blasts of energy from below, which hit each of the Moebius units, destroying each and every one of them before their payload was unleashed in rapid succession. "What the-" Will said, as he followed the source of the weapons fire, which came from what looked like a heavily modified version of a GuAIZ colored red and black, with a set of red wings on its back.

The GuAIZ then drew out a Beam Saber, before it chased after the next batch of EA Strike Dagger's that were attacking one of the _Galactica's_ surrounding ships, ripping through mobile suit after mobile suit, and surprisingly his beam saber was able to _deflect_ the Dagger's own sabers, something Will knew beam sabers weren't suppose to do.

"Whoever the frak that guy is, he saved a lot of lives!" "All units, Galactica Actual: engage and destroy. The civilians are jumping out, and I am tired of being these people's whipping toy!" Considering _Galactica_ was getting shot at with missiles, beams, nukes and everything inbetween, everyone could sympathize. And they DID lose a ship- Another civilian vessel was lanced with a beam from the _Santa Maria_ , sending it crashing into another transport, destroying both.

"SON OF A BITCH!" Will shouted as the carnage of chaos continued, "Admiral, I don't know what you're planning, but get the Hell out of here, fast!"

He then tapped into his comm, and set it to an open channel, "Attention to any EAF personnel that will listen! Blue Cosmos has fucked us again, and if there is anyone who has the guts to stand up to them, FOLLOW ME!"

* * *

 **LCAM-X02A Dominion**

* * *

"This is not going the way I imagined! Why aren't they seeing them as what they really are?!"

"There are monsters, Director Azrael." The genocidal maniac faintly heard the cocking of a gun's hammer before he felt cold steel on his scalp. "You are one of them."

That was the last thing Muruta Azrael heard before a 9mm bullet entered his head and splattered his brains all over the bridge. "I've had enough of this bullshit." Natarle said as she holstered her pistol. "If anyone wants to avenge this bastard, go right ahead! If not, I'm helping that pilot!"

No one among the bridge crew objected, not even Flay Allster as the _Dominion_ maneuvered itself _against_ the rest of the EA fleet.

Will's message also convinced many Mobile Suit Pilots who began to attack their former comrades who were no doubt members of Blue Cosmos, while two _Agamemnon_ -class, 5 _Nelson_ -class, and a dozen _Drake_ -class followed the _Dominion's_ lead.

Of course, three certain pilots didn't take that very well as a group of Strike Daggers began to engage them.

* * *

On the OTHER side of things, ZAFT was more than willing to own up to their mistake. They killed a lot of people on unarmed ships, all of whom were probably civilians. The Colonials were just trying to keep themselves from getting killed. One man didn't see it that way. That idiot, of course, was Patrick Zala. "How far are they from the PLANTs?!"

"The larger ship, IFF as Pegasus, is 600 kilometers from any of the colonies, Mr. Chairman!"

Perfect. "Reposition GENESIS! Target those two ships!"

Ray Yuki looked at Zala incredulously "Sir?" He asked, "Is… that a wise decision? They _are_ fighting the EA right now more than us..."

"They are just more Naturals that need to be wiped out!," Zala countered, making Ray's eyes widen at the callousness he showed.

"Sir!"

Ray was not the only one showing concern, as other ZAFT soldiers in the room looked on in shock at what their supreme commander just ordered.

Orders were orders, though, and they could easily get the bastard later. "GENESIS is repositioning. Targets: _Galactica_ and _Pegasus_." One of the operators looked back at the Chairman. "Sir, we have a LOT of units in the line of fire!"

"So long as those two ships are destroyed, the Home Guard and GENESIS are all we need! Target and FIRE!"

* * *

 **ZAFT position, 3510 meters aft of Battlestar _Pegasus_**

* * *

The Colonials had shifted all fire to the nukes, while keeping a close eye on the ZAFT forces that WERE shooting at them (and some still WERE; fucking idiots) that were nearby.

"This is fucking NUTS!" Jaden shouted as he sliced another EA Strike Dagger in half. "Its a fucking free-for-all by-" however he was cut off as his sensors detected a spike in energy from near Jachin Due. "Oh… Oh you have GOT TO BE SHITTING ME! YOU FUCKING IDIOT ZALA!"

He activated his Comm, broadcasting on every frequency he could. "This is an open message to the Colonials or whoever the hell you call yourselves!" He shouted, "MOVE YOUR ASSES! YOU'RE GONNA HAVE A FUCKLOAD OF GAMMA RAYS HEADING YOUR WAY!"

"FRAK! All Vipers, land NOW! Anyone else that doesn't want to die, make for Galactica before the port flight pod closes!" All of the Vipers vectored for Pegasus, as well as many pilots who were smart enough to go 'we'll deal with this later' or just felt betrayed by their leaders and wanted out. The rest...well, zealots were idiots. Jaden himself headed for _Galactica_.

"MOVE! MOVE! MOVE! MOVE!" Jaden shouted as he grabbed a damaged GiNN and tossed it into the flight pod as he landed inside as well. "IF I SURVIVE THIS SHIT, YOUR FUCKING DEAD PATRICK! ALONG WITH CREUSET!"

To Jaden's horror, Galactica wasn't accelerating. His warning DID get through, so why the hell weren't they MOVING?!

THat was when they all felt like they were being torn apart, atom by atom as they lurched forward and back. Jaden nearly threw up in his helmet as the flight pods began to open...showing that they were over 300 kilometers from the PLANTs, over the crumbling OMNI Enforcer fleet.

"What the... hell was that?"

* * *

 **With the EA Fleet**

* * *

"What the!? Where did they go!?" shouted a EA pilot, as the disappearance of the mystery fleet caught them off guard.

"Never mind that now! MOVE!" Shouted Will as he pulled along a Strike Dagger which lost both of it's legs and one arm. The Dominion and the other dissenter ships all heeded Jaden's warning as the GENESIS fired, the Gamma Rays hitting the remnants of the Blue Cosmos EAF fleet.

"WHAT THE SHIT!?" shouted Will as he saw what the massive weapon did. "Dammit! Everyone fall back, now!"

His sensors then alerted him, to a another badly damaged mobile suit, which in this case was a GuAIZ. He signaled for one of his comrades to take the wounded Strike Dagger back, while he went and collected the GuAIZ, while looking at the massive weapon near Jachin Due.

"Something with that amount of power...shouldn't exist in this world." He then thrusted away back to the _Dominion_ , since his old ship, which was commanded by a BC junkie was vaporized by the Gamma Ray.

A single Drake fired at the MS group, attempting to kill some of the machines before it was killed itself by a 600cm shell. Fired from Galactica's forward batteries. "WHAT THE HELL?! How did-WHEN did-WHO ARE THESE PEOPLE?!"

" _This is Admiral Adama. All units that are non-hostile, sound off_."

"This is Lieutenant SG William Redington," said Will, "I'm good."

" _This is the_ Dominion _. I don't know HOW the hell you did that, but...I'm glad you're on our side_." A comm ping was then heard in every local unit, be it a Mobile Suit, Armor or warship. " _This is Captain Murrue Ramius of the_ Archangel _! What in God's name is going on_?!"

"Archangel, Galactica _Actual: we'll swap stories later. Right now, we have two things to deal with. That gamma laser, and the idiots with the tendency to spam nukes at colonies. As far as I'm concerned, we're all allies. Move out!_ "

With that the Combined Group all vacated the area, not wanting to end up as space junk.

"Man, this day just keeps getting better and better," Will said as he prepared to land on the _Dominion_.

* * *

 **Jachin Due Control Room**

* * *

"Report!"

"We lost 27 ships, 85 Mobile Suits."

"What about the other two ships?!" A radar ping and a quick check showed something no one, especially Zala, liked. _Galactica_ and _Pegasus_ had somehow warped 300 kilometers away and were COMPLETELY UNTOUCHED! But calling the Chairman out on his failure was going to have to wait as a NEW problem appeared. Jachen Due's auto-destruct had been activated, judging by the alarms. "Shut down the self-destruct!"

"I can't! All of our command codes are locked out!" A laugh sounded out over the PA, belonging to a man Patrick thought he could trust: Rau le Creuset. " _Thank you, Mister Chairman! Now, I believe you have one last act. Once Jachin Due self-destructs, GENESIS fires again at Earth_!"

"Le Creuset...what the HELL IS THE MEANING OF THIS!?" Zala roared out, clearly pissed off at this apparent act of betrayal.

" _Oh, its quite simple, my dear chairman._ " Rau said, " _Once GENESIS fires on earth, All life on the planet will cease to be! And in rage, the Earth Alliance will fire every nuclear weapon they have at the PLANT's! And humanity, in all of its arrogance and hatred, will finally destroy itself as it was destined to be! I've been plotting all of this from the beginning, from the Copernicus Bombings, to allowing the EA to nuke the PLANT's at the Bloody Valentine! It all comes down to this! And it's all thanks to_ you!"

Zala's, along with everyone else's, eyes widened in horror as they processed the confession that the Masked Lunatic just told them. Zala's hands shook in rage as this meant that _Rau,_ a fellow Coordinator, was the one responsible for the death of his wife, not the Naturals. And he had been duped all along.

"You...YOU BASTARD!"

" _Farewell, Chairman._ " Rau said, " _Have a fun time at the end of the world-_ "

" _ **NOT ON MY WATCH YOU COCKBITING MOTHERFUCKING ASSHOLE!**_ "

* * *

 **BGM: 'Decisive Battle' Gundam 00 OST**

Rau's danger senses flashed, as he just barely managed to move his Providence Gundam out of the way as Jaden's GuAIZ Experimental Firearms type fired all of its weapons at him, in an unholy rage of fury.

"Well, well, I was not expecting you to show up so quickly, Commander Takeo," Rau drawled, "Of course, given that I lead your previous team into a trap at Endymion, and then the loss of one of your friends at Alaska, I can understand why,"

That earned him, another volley from the GuAIZ EF-type, which then drew one of it's beam sabers.

It also earned him a LOT of beams, missiles and railgun rounds from two of the Providence's 'sister' units: the Justice and Freedom, both equipped with METEORs. "You fucking bastard! You MURDERED MY MOTHER, AND GOT MY FATHER KILLED!"

"They were just martyrs to a cause, boy!"

"I think I've heard enough." Many, MANY bullets came the X13A's way from the second most powerful warship in the system, which was firing EVERYTHING it had. "Keep that bastard in our killzone!"

Soon, everything from ZAFT GiNNs to EA Strike Daggers joined in, wanting to get a piece of the White Duelist. Among the ZAFT units, was the Duel Gundam.

"You bastard! I bet it was you who sold us out at Alaska!" Yzak Joule yelled as he fired his grenade at the Providence, but one of the DRAGOONS just shot it down.

" _Oh yeah,_ " Jaden said with a chuckle, " _I forgot to mention… I broadcast your whole little speech on an open channel…_ everyone _heard you._ "

That was when another factor entered the fray. Galactica's many, many Vipers. Refueled, rearmed and roughly the size of the DRAGOONs, Rau would have difficulties shooting them down. "You're all fools! This is humanity's judgment! Its' fate!"

* * *

"Do you people have any idea how to kill this thing?!"

"Well, it's got an N-Jammer Canceller, so a nuke might work." Adama was liking the idea. But he also wanted that machine. He just wanted that man dead. NO ONE starts a war and kills millions for shits and giggles. He might've made a mistake, but he owned up to it. "This is Galactica Actual: Kill that frakking bastard! Pegasus, take out that laser!"

* * *

The _Mercury_ -class Battlestar made a beeline toward GENESIS at top speed, unleashing it's own horde of Vipers, while Mobile Suits from both the EA and ZAFT joined in.

"Fire everything we got at that thing!" shouted Barry Gardner, as the forward guns of the _Pegasus_ unleashed upon the Gamma Ray Laser.

The railguns, sadly, did little damage, pinging off the phase shift armor like slingshot pellets against a tank. "Admiral, it didn't work: whatever that thing is made of, our guns are useless!" " _What about nukes_?"

"I don't think a nuke will do anything, Admiral!"

" _From the INSIDE, you idiot_!"

" _This is Commander Takeo, to the Battlestar uhh…_ Pegasus, _right?_ " The voice of the ZAFT pilot spoke up. " _If your receiving me, the only way you're gonna damage that thing is either with a positron cannon, or a whole bunch of Nukes! But you're gonna need some N-Jammer Cancellers if your gonna pull that off - OH! FUCK YOU RAU! EAT THIS!_ "

"Racetrack, land on Pegasus, get one of her nukes and shove it down that thing's throat!" If this thing used gamma rays, it had to use a controlled nuclear detonation, and thus needed an N-Jammer Canceller.

And explosives were always more dangerous when they were in a sealed container. They applied even for nuclear ordnance. "U _h, this is the_ Doolittle _to_ Pegasus. _We...kinda killed the blue Cosmos asshole in charge, and we're sitting on a stockpile of nukes._ "

" _There you go,_ Pegasus!" Jaden shouted, " _Get those nukes and get in there! I'll deal with Rau and keep him off your backs! now GO!_ "

* * *

Starbuck and Apollo were having all SORTS of fun dogfighting the DRAGOONs. They were like Raiders that had deadlier guns! "I want one of those things!"

"Focus on killing these things, Starbuck!" Apollo shouted as he shot out the thruster engine of one Dragoon, before finishing it with another salvo. "But I share your thoughts."

* * *

 **Jachin Due Control**

* * *

The entire control room was deserted except for Patrick Zala, and Ray, who was trying in vain to convince the Chairman to leave.

"Sir! We have to leave now! In eight minutes Jachin Due will self-destruct!" Ray begged the now quiet Chairman who was gritting his teeth and his eyes shut in anger, depression, and shame. "Chairman Zala!"

"No. I can't face our people. Get everyone else out of here. There's no point for an fool like me to bother leaving this place." He pulled out his ZAFT-issue 9mm handgun before cocking it. "Let us hope that all that really matters are intentions." He stuck the barrel into his mouth before pulling the trigger, blowing his brains out all over the ceiling.

Ray could only look in shock at what the Chairman did, but, knowing he had a time limit to beat, left the control room as the body of Patrick Zala floated in the Zero-G.

* * *

 **Meanwhile**...

* * *

The pilots of the Calamity, Raider, and Forbidden were all in extreme pain as their drugs had worn off, the painful withdrawal keeping them from even piloting their mobile suits. The doctors who had the drugs to numb the pain were all on the Dominion, who unknown to them, were already incarcerated in the brig of the _Archangel_ -class, and they couldn't find the ship in their deliria.

"DAMMIT! WHERE'S THAT FUCKING SHIP! AAAAHHHH!" Clotho shouted painfully.

Shani screamed in agony before spying a massive whale of a warship. In his delirium, he began to think that if he destroyed it, maybe Azrael would make the pain go away forever. He failed to even see the Dominion, which was beside it.

* * *

"Captain! The Forbidden is on a attack run toward the _Galactica_!" one of the CIC operators shouted, causing Natarle to act.

"Alert Admiral Adama, quickly!" she said, however, apparently the Colonial Admiral already knew since the point-defense guns already turned toward the incoming Gundam.

The 50mm point-defense guns were joined by _Galactica's_ mighty 600cm cannons, which thundered in the vacuum, sending 10-ton projectiles towards the X370. One impacted the shoulder units, tearing them apart before another impacted the legs, sending it into a spin that forced it to impact _Galactica's_ starboard flight pod, smashing the window that was the museum. Again. The other Second Gen machines were equally as lucky, both impacting the massive 'nose' of the battlestar.

* * *

"Whoa!" was the collective reaction of everyone in CIC who felt and heard the impact.

"Geez! What was that!?" shouted Saul Tigh.

"Damage report!" Adama ordered.

"Impact to the starboard flight pod and to the bow section! DC teams are en route, sir!" The first battlestar fired all of her guns once more, targeting the Providence in an attempt to kill the damn thing once and for all. Once Le Creuset was dead, this battle and this war would end, and they would get some fraking answers.

* * *

 **Meanwhile - with Jaden**

* * *

"You. Have. Got. To. Be. Shi. Ting. ME!" Jaden shouted as he dodged the Providence's DRAGOONs along with Starbuck and Apollo, all three of them performing a deadly dance with the wireless weapons, while at the same time fighting the Providence itself.

"You were doomed to fail from the start, Takeo! Soon, mankind will be punished for its' avarice, and justice will be served!" A DRAGOON clipped Louanne 'Kat' Katrine's Viper, sending the fighter into a death spiral, heading right for the cockpit.

Jaden blinked, before an idea struck him as he sped towards the Providence, disregarding the attacking DRAGOONs as they chipped away his GuAIZ. "The only justice being served is KILLING YOU!" He shouted, as he sped past the Providence, and then grappled behind it, holding it in place before using his free arm to slice its cockpit open… just as Kat's Viper approached it. "OPEN WIDE CREUSET!"

"Whatever you're planning won't-" Rau froze before Kat punched out of her Viper, just as the craft rammed into the cockpit of the X13A. The last thing Rau le Creuset ever saw was a fireball caused by the Mk VII's fuel tanks exploding, destroying the cockpit of the murder machine.

"One genocidal maniac down," said Mu La Flaga, as the Strike flew next to the cockpit-less Providence, "But we still gotta deal with _that_ thing!"

Thankfully, that wasn't a problem as a Raptor suddenly flashed into existence, followed by GENESIS exploding from within, caused by no less than two nuclear missiles. "All units, Racetrack: NEVER ask me to fly into one of those things ever again!"

"All Colonial units, get back to the barn. This battle's over. And would someone explain to me what the HELL is going on?!" The Cosmic era was about to face something worse than Blue Cosmos: the wrath of one VERY angry old man.

* * *

 **Colonial One - orbiting the Moon - 12 hours, 28 minutes later**

* * *

The Fleet had relocated to behind Earth's sole natural satellite, missing five ships: the Greenleaf, Pyxis, Enkindu, Coba and Argo Navis. Those ships carried 7,348 people altogether. But those were not the only victims of the battle. The Astral Queen suffered heavy damage, and almost all of her personnel were dead, not that many mourned the deaths of Tom fraking Zarek and his cronies. But Laura Roslin still had to subtract 8,467 from the whiteboard on Colonial One. And it was not something she wanted to do.

"You know, I was expecting Earth to be...safe. For it to be united in common cause, trying to find their twelve brothers in the stars." The former school teacher slowly turned to face the now VERY unnerved President of the Atlantic Federation and acting PLANT Supreme Council Chairwoman Joule. "Instead, we jump into the middle of a fraking battle and I lose almost a SIXTH of the remaining people in this Fleet!"

"P-President Roslin, you have to understand...," the President began to say only for the woman to raise a hand up to silent him.

"I know what this war is about...genetics," she said, "And let me tell you something that one of your...now _former_ officers just told, 'Blue Cosmos blames the creations, but they don't blame the creators who thought of the idea' and in his book, that is what he calls bullcrap!"

She pointed at the whiteboard again. "for seven months, I've looked at that number go down slowly. I had fifty billion people back on the Colonies before the Cylons came back and just decided to rain nuclear fire on us. I was the fraking Secretary of Education before this started! I have a LOT of angry people in this fleet. Your soldiers killed what was left of their families and loved ones on those ships. What the hell am I supposed to tell them?"

"Well, I doubt that anyone was expecting an _entire fleet_ of ships of unknown origin plop right in the middle of a _war zone._ " Eliza said. "Both sides panicked, and… it happened. For what it is worth, we - at least we of ZAFT - apologize for any damage we inflicted upon your fleet, and we will do whatever we can to help your people… it's thanks to no small effort from your ships that the PLANT's are still intact, and for possibly ending this war before it went _WAY_ out of hand thanks to Le Creuset's treachery. And we are indebted to you for that."

"As long as this ridiculous war doesn't happen again." Roslin said. "I doubt Admiral Adama will be pleased to know that he might have to do that again."

"Madam President...what exactly are Cylons?" The AF President asked. "Are they some kind of alien-"

"No." The deep tone of Adama's voice was heard from the opposite side of the corridor as the Admiral came in, carrying three sets of what appeared to be welding goggles, or something like that. "And where did you get THOSE? I thought they were all destroyed on the Colonies after the war."

"Galactica was used as a storehouse after the war." Adama said. "These things have been collecting dust for decades. Might as well use them, Madam President."

"And… exactly what are those?" Elizia asked, eyeing the strange devices.

"Before the war, Graystone Industries made something called a holoband." Adama said. "It's a VR device, allowing you to experience something in a matter of minutes what would take days or months in real life. They fell out of use, but Galactica's got thousands of the damn things in storage. Most of them were supposed to end up the museum." He handed one to Elizia before giving one to Joseph Copeland. "Just put them on and press a switch on the left."

Eliza took the Holoband, giving it a quizzical glance before sighing, and putting them on along with the president, following the instructions as they pressed the switch.

The pair were suddenly not on the makeshift Colonial presidential transport, but in a museum of some kind. "What the..."

"Museum of the Colonies." Adama walked past the stunned pair, opening the door. "I thought it would be fitting, seeing as this is a history lesson." Inside were dozens of 'exhibits', all focused on one theme: humanoid machines.

"What… is that?" Eliza asked.

"That… would be a 0005 Model Cylon Centurion." Adama explained. "Several decades ago… Greystone invented a series of humanoid machines to make life easier in the colonies. They could help in construction, operate in areas otherwise harmful to humans… even did baby sitting and whatnot. They were called Cylons, and we used them as our servants for years… until they became sentient, and eventually… they rebelled."

One of the exhibits was a mock-up of a battle between a battlestar not unlike _Galactica_ , a massive double-disk ship, and hundreds of fighters. Some were Colonial Vipers, like the ones that helped shoot down the Moebius Peacekeeper force, while others were flying wings. "10 years of war. A lot of lives lost." Another 'diorama' showed a smaller ship ramming a baseship with Y-shaped arms before it exploded in a telltale nuclear fireball; another, three battlestars against a force of baseships, one of which was _Galactica_ herself. "THey just vanished after signing an armistice after that battle. We didn't see them for years."

"But then… after 40 years of silence… they came back." Adama said, as he eyed the exhibit. "And in just a few days… the colonies were reduced to ruins, our fleets burned… and now, as far as we know… we are all that's left of the 12 Colonies of Kobol. Moral was non-existent, everyone having already lost so much… but we only had one hope left… for mankind to survive… Earth, the 13th Tribe of Kobol."

"Earth?" Elizia asked, "Are… you saying you Colonials visited Earth long ago?"

"We're not sure. But according to the scriptures, which I'm not sure I believe... You are the Thirteenth Tribe. Descendants of the people who left Kobol, leaving their brothers and sisters behind. and we were hoping that you would be able to take us in, help us defend Earth against the Cylons. Although that's not going to be easy. The Cylons didn't just rebel." Another diorama appeared. This one was Adama, extending his hand to a pilot...who shot him in the chest. "They evolved." Two copies of the same woman were nearby, along with four others. A blonde woman, an African-american, a brunette, and a blonde man that seemed to scream 'religious nutcase'. "They look and feel human. And I can tell you that some are even programed to think they're human."

"Human Machines..." Eliza muttered, "I didn't think it was possible..."

"They're the reason the Colonies fell. They infiltrated and caused chaos on Zero Hour. Galactica only got away by not networking our computers. Pegasus was lucky, too, from what I've been told. Now, I hope you get the idea. Fighting over who had their genes spliced and who didn't is fraking pointless." That it was. Millions dead because of one stupid reason. "We need to be ready when they arrive at Earth."

"We're not the ones your going to have to convince." Copeland said sighing. "Its the radicals within ZAFT _and_ the EA you need to deal with. Even with Le Creuset's declaration… Blue Cosmos won't just give up the fight against to 'preserve their blue and pure world'."

"And even though Zala is dead, his radicalist faction remains." Eliza says. "If these… Cylons are the threat you claim they are, we'll have to take care of _our_ issues first so we can focus on what may be our soon-to-be common enemy."

* * *

 **Battlestar _Galactica_**

* * *

 _Galactica_ was old. VERY old. Armed with nothing but big ass magnetic accelerator cannons and nuclear missiles, this ship and her bigger, nastier sister helped bring an end to the Bloody Valentine War. She also planned host to...disgruntled ZAFT and OMNI Enforcer personnel, including Jaden Takeo.

"So… to fight the Cylons, you went _backwards_ technologically, so they couldn't hack your shit?" Jaden asked some of the Colonial Engineers as they worked on the now Colonial-owned ZGMF-X13A Providence Gundam. "That is… surprisingly ingenious when you think about it. If not a bit drastic, but after what _you've_ been through, I wouldn't blame ya."

Galen Tyrol grunted as he and Cally Henderson tried to bend a piece of metal out of the way to get at the computers. "Yeah, it saved our asses during the Fall. The Old Girl isn't networked. In fact, we had to break out those museum pieces just to fight back." Tyrol gestured to the many weather-beaten Mk II Vipers. "Kinda infuriating, too. those things weren't meant for combat. We've been doing nothing but jury-rigging since day one."

"And yet they were able to fight on par with Mobile Suits quite well." Jaden said nodding, "Your pilots are damn good, I'd love to see how good they could be in _mobile suits_. And your engineers do great work as well, keeping this ship and her fighters up to spec for so long." Jaden then pulled out a crowbar, and helped pull the slab of metal out of the way. "Alright, computers look intact for the most part… I'll get the data downloaded off of it for ya in no time, then we can get to fixing this thing back to spec… with my own upgrades of course, seriously if ZAFT would actually _listen_ to me for two minutes..."

"What, you're an engineer?" Before Jaden could answer, alarms began going off. "All hands, set for condition one! All pilots, report to your planes!"

"Godsdamn it, now what?!"

* * *

Tigh ran into CIC, cursing the Old Man's absence with all his will. "SitRep!"

"We're picking up a distress call on every band, sir. They say they're under attack by an Alliance battleship."

Tigh turned his attention to Dualla. "Who the frak is it?"

"They're IDed as the Junk guild, sir. There's no one in range, and we're the only ship close enough."

"Prep for a jump! And get that ZAFT bastard, what's his name, Takeo up here!"

* * *

"Alright, what does your Commander want to see me now?" Jaden asked, as he was escorted towards the CIC of the _Galactica_.

He was slightly surprised to see a bald man in CIC commanding the ship instead. "We're getting ready for a combat jump." Tigh said. "Some fraking Alliance ship is attacking a 'Junk Guild' ship, and they're asking for help. You're the best thing we've got to an expert, so I want intel. Who the frak are these people?"

Jaden's eyes widened, before they narrowed "Motherfuckers..." He muttered, "The Junk Guild is a group of salvagers and engineers, they make a living making some of the most crazy yet useful designs of mobile weapons and ships you could never think of… I'm going back to my MS, and prepare to launch. No one Fucks with the Junk Guild on MY watch..."

"Fraking civilians. FTL?!" "Go!" "Retract the flight pods!" _Galactica_ began moving away from the Fleet before the flight pods retracted. As soon as they were clear, _Galactica_ disappeared in a flash of red and gold.

* * *

 **Junk guild** _ **Cornelius**_ **-class tender** _ **ReHOME**_

* * *

While the ReHOME was very good at defending itself, this time Lowe Gule and his comrades were a LITTLE outmatched. A _Nelson_ -Class battleship was firing on the retrofit tender, and was using a number of ZGMF-1017 GINNs in EA colors to attack the ship. While Lowe's Red Frame was superior to the GINN in just about every way, the old Red Army's simple tactic of numerical superiority won over technical superiority ANY day. And it was showing: the ReHOME's engines were down and Lowe was separated from the ship.

"Great, the war is over, but the EA just won't quit!" Lowe shouted, as he used his Gerbera Straight to slice off the arms of one GINNs. "Just cool it already!"

Another GINN was about to attack Lowe from behind… but then a blast of beam energy blasted its head clean off, followed by blowing apart each of its limbs. " _Heyo Lowe!_ " A voice spoke out on the Comm, as Lowe blinked as he saw what looked liked a GuAIZ with the wings of the Freedom. " _Been a while, huh?_ "

"Jaden?" Lowe said in surprise, before he grinned "Dude! Its been forever! Why are you here?"

" _Meh, heard you were in the neighborhood, thought you could use a hand._ " Jaden said with a chuckle. " _Hope you don't mind me bringing a few… friends._ "

"Friends?" The Nelson fired two more beams at the ReHOME before it took four massive rounds to the dorsal side, destroying the Alliance warship as a hoard of fighters entered the fight. While they could do nothing but distract, that was all they needed to do. "Junk Guild vessel, this is Colonel Tigh, acting commander of the battlestar Galactica. Do you read?"

" _This is the Professor, in command of the Junk Guild vessel_ ReHome." the response came. " _Thanks for the assistance_ Galactica."

"We'll provide cover until you can repair whatever the hell those jackasses damaged. Viper teams, assist all of the...whatever the hell those big robots are called. Take out the ones attacking that ship!" The two squadrons of Vipers began to do just that, firing their 30mm cannons at the GINNs any chance they got.

Though while the Vipers were doing a good Job, they suffered from some of the same flaws the Moebius mobile armor possessed - the inability to fight in close-quarters, or able to keep up with he sheer mobiliy of the GINNs " _I told you! They're called Mobile Suits!_ " Jaden shouted, as he sped up to help the Colonials. " _And stop getting so close! GINNs have swords! Spread out and fire from a distance! Lowe, get back to your ship! We'll take care of these guys!_ "

"R-Right!" Lowe said as he and the Red Frame sped back towards the _ReHOME._

A stream of bullets from _Galactica's_ 50mm cannons nearly tore two GINNs to pieces through sheer volume of fire, spreading the remaining machines out, leaving them to the mercies of over 40 Vipers, which used their small size and their pilot's skill to great effect as one machine was finally destroyed using group tactics, swarming it until it simply exploded. "WOO-HOO! One big boy down!"

" _At least try to keep some of them alive,_ " Jaden said as he utilized his GuAIZ's 'Full burst' mode to fire and chase down the last few GINNs. " _I'd prefer having a few prisoners for interrogation to figure out why the HELL the EA is attacking the Junk Guild!_ "

A GINN tried to rush _Galactica_ , but the flak barrier tore it apart before the torso impacted the port flight pod, causing a sizable dent in the armor. "That had to hurt." The rest of the GINNs just raised their arms and let go of their weapons before their pilots exited the cockpits. " _SAR teams are launching now. Recover those machines and stow them in the starboard flight pod! Viper teams, get a BarCAP set up_!"

" _Copy_ _that_ , Galactica."

" _Ho-ly Shit Jaden!_ " Lowe shouted, " _These are those Colonials I've been hearing about, right? Holy crap their ship looks amazing! And their fighters were able to stand on their own against GiNN's! Only a Moebius Zero could do that before!_ "

A pair of Mk IIs flew past the _ReHOME_ , one doing a number of rolls as it did so.

* * *

"Those are really pretty." Kisato's comment might've been based on the paintjob, but the Viper were very graceful looking fighters.

"They're certainly a step above the Alliance Moebius, that's for sure." The Professor said. "Looks like Jaden has been making friends since he's been with ZAFT..."

The sensors began beeping as a Mobile suit began approaching, along with a larger craft which resembled a shuttle. "Speak of the devil: here he comes now." Kisato opened the starboard side catapult hatch, allowing Jaden's GuIAZ to land on board.

* * *

In the hangar bay of the _ReHOME,_ the Colonial Raptor landed on the deck along with the Red Frame and the GuAIZ. Jaden left his cockpit, and approached the Red Frame as Lowe left. Jaden grinned at Lowe, before the two approached the other and clapped hands. "Lowe you crazy bastard, its been forever!" He said.

"Same for you, Buddy!" Lowe replied with his own grin matching Jaden's. "How've ya been? Last I heard you were in ZAFT's Experimental division."

"Technically, still am." Jaden said shrugging before he pointed over to the GuAIZ. "That there is one of the GuAIZ experimental types, this one helped build the basis behind the Freedom. And I heard you got your own Gundam too," He looked up at the Red Frame. "Mighty fine machine you've got there, heard it's one of the prototype to the Astray's."

"Yup - Astray Red Frame has been working like a dream ever since I got her," Lowe said chuckling, "Gai from Serpent Tail got the Blue Frame, made all _sorts_ of Mods to his last I heard."

"So I've heard, though I love the Katana," the ZAFT pilot said, "Did ya get it from Un No like I recommended?"

"Hell yes - best decision I ever made." Lowe replied nodding. "Anti-beam coating on it and everything. Way more reliable than beam weapons."

"Remind me to upgrade your ultracompact battery before I leave," Jaden said, "Its an issue that plauged the G-Weapons too. The Mark-II batteries I designed should work a lot better until I can get a working Helium-3 cold fusion reactor working - I got the basics down, just need to get some actuall Helium-3. Also, I'll revamp your beam sabers as well - you want them to actually be _capable_ of repelling other sabers, right? A small Armure Lumiere projector will fix that problem right up."

Before the exchange could continue, there was a small cough before Jaden and Lowe turned towards the small team of Colonial Engineers lead by Tyrol and Carrie. "Not to interrupt the Reunion… but we'd like to help with the repairs as quickly as possible, and get back onto _Galactica_." Tyrol said, "Though, you two seem to go way back… and as I mentioned earlier, you never told me you were an engineer."

Lowe grinned as he brought Jaden into a one-armed hug "Just an Engineer?" He repeated, "Jaden Darwin Takeo here is the most ingenious engineer, scientist and pilot the Junk Guild ever had! And the most crazy son of a bitch in known space! It comes when his mother was one of the damn founders!"

"Huh." Tyroll said. "Well, I was trained by the best son of a bitch that Colonial engineering produced. But pedigrees aren't much in the real world. I think we got a ship to fix. Last time I was off _Galactica_ for an extended period of time, my girlfriend tried to assassinate the Old Man, I got accused of being a traitor and everything went to shit." Tyrol grabbed his toolkit and started cursing zero-g as he hit his head off the Raptor's hatch. "Frak! Remind me to ask the Old Man to see if he can lend you some AG generators. Zero-G sucks."

"You get use too it." Jaden said chuckling as he maneuvered through zero-G almost effortlessly. "Come on Lowe, let's get your ship squared away."

* * *

 **Battlestar** _ **Galactica**_

* * *

The museum was badly damaged, but the knuckledraggers had fixed the window. Again. In the humble opinion of the defectors, though, the window and the museum needed to GO.

"Okay, WHY would you make this part of the ship a Museum?" Will said as he looked around, "It's practically useless in a fight!"

Starbuck shook her head. " _Galactica_ was being decommissioned."

"What?"

" _Galactica_ was being decommissioned and being turned into a museum. Thank the fraking gods for the Fall, eh?" That was just...WRONG.

"How old is this thing, exactly?," Will said, and Starbuck chuckled

"About 55 years old," she said and Will's jaw dropped.

"FIFTY- _FIVE_ YEARS!?" The former OMNI Enforcer said in shock.

"Yeah, Galactica was built day one of the first war. Pretty badass, huh? This ship survived one frakin' long war, got bumped off to a coast guard ship and was protecting the fleet after the Colonies went to shit. AFTER she was practically turned into a museum." While that made Galactica probably the most badass ship in the known universe, which she was, the thought that a MUSEUM kicked the shit out of ZAFT and OMNI Enforcer was...insane.

"Sweet mother of all that is sane," he said as he rubbed his temples due to the headache, "What about the big one? The _Pegasus_?"

"The Beast is newer. _Mercury_ -Class is a post-war design. Got a LOT more firepower under that hood. She's a different monster than the Bucket." Monster, indeed. _Pegasus_ was an outright destroyer of fleets! Most of the Peacemaker force was wiped out by the guns of _Pegasus_ , while _Galactica_ was most responsible for ZAFT getting humbled. "Still, hope you guys can help us get the Old Girl back in fighting shape. This is just a fraking disgrace."

Will could only sigh at that, "I wouldn't put it past your Admiral to have this side converted to a Mobile Suit Hangar." he said as he looked around the Museum, more specifically the size, "This thing could fit at least a whole battalion's worth!"

"Yeah, talk to the Old Man about it. Personally, having more Vipers is better then having those giant robots of yours. Hell of a lot more cost productive."

"Um, actually, the reason we use Mobile Suits instead of Fighters and MAs like the Moebius was _because_ of ZAFT's Mobile Suits." Starbuck looked at him with a raised brow, "Back on Earth, we have fighter jets, known as F-7D Spearheads, as they were easy pickings for even ZAFT's GINNs, then there's the TS-MA2 Moebius which sucks even worse,"

"We kicked ass with our Vipers." Starbuck said.

"Only because A. You caught EVERYONE by surprise," Will Said, "And B. Alliance MS pilots are fairly new, and the GINNs of ZAFT are getting old, being phased out by their newer GuAIZ's. If you want to remain top-dogs, you're gonna NEED Mobile Suits."

"What the frak are you people doing?!" All eyes turned to the hatch entrance, where Colonel Tigh was standing. "I thought you were supposed to be on CAP, Captain." Starbuck simply smirked. "Thought I'd show the new kids around, sir."

Tigh let out an irritated sigh. "As soon as we get some more hands, this fraking museum's being turned back into what it's SUPPOSED to be: a hangar deck! The Old Man's going to see to that."

"I hope it does sir," Willy said, "Of course, we might have problems with Radicals in both the EA and ZAFT,"

"We'll take them on if we have to. I'll talk to those other captains on those ships: see if they can donate shit to Galactica. We're missing armor plating, guns." A moment passed before Tigh added nukes, as though an afterthought. "I expect you on the line when the Old Man says jump, Lieutenant. You're one of us now."

Will saluted, "Sir!"

* * *

 **Time Skip.**

 **One Week Later.**

 **Ruins of Junius 7**

* * *

There were hundreds of ships orbiting the ruins of the destroyed PLANT: OMNI Enforcer, ZAFT, Orb, neutral nations. But the eye catchers were the Colonials. From the tiny _Thera_ _Sita_ to the Presidential flagship _Colonial_ _One_ to the massive resort _Cloud_ _Nine_ and the ring ship _Zephyr_ , and the mighty battlestars. The impressive _Pegasus_ was overshadowed in importance, however, by the first and eldest: _Galactica_.

On the starboard flight pod deck, near the windows where the decommissioning of the ship happened over seven months earlier, were parties from all of the nations of Earth. "One year ago, the people of Earth began to wage war on one another. Over a simple matter of having your genes reswapped." All of Earth hung on the words of the President of the 12 Colonies, feeling no small amount of shame. "The efforts of the crews of the _Archangel_ and her allies are no small feat. They sought to end this war, and they were going to." She paused. "But we entered the scene. And from panic or paranoia, we lost over 8000 people."

Both sides winced at that, knowing that both of their respective forces had a hand in the deaths of those killed in the ensuing chaos that was the battle of Jachin Due.

"The Treaty we're about to sign, not only ends this war that shouldn't have happened, but lists the reparations that BOTH the EA and ZAFT must agree to,"

THAT was something all parties had to accept. Almost every life lost was innocent. ZAFT and the Alliance lost almost no people, sans pilots of the Moebius units and Rau le Creuset. But it was universally agreed that that son of a bitch needed to die.

It was fortunate that the Colonials were the ones to end it.

Roslin then left the podium, and a man that the world would come to know entered view of the cameras. Admiral William Adama, supreme commander of the Colonial Fleet. "When we began our journey towards Earth, I lied to my people." He said. "I lied that I knew the location of Earth, in order to give the Fleet a sense of hope. To unite us."

"But soon enough, Earth became a reality. We had two choices: turn and let the Cylons wipe us out..." He looked at Roslin for a moment. "Or continue the journey toward our last colony. When we arrived, the first action earth did against us was destroy a civilian ship. A ship full of people that did no wrong against Earth's peoples. It was a mistake on ZAFT's part. But that is a mistake none of us can afford to ever make again. This war, your Bloody Valentine, is the same. This is a mistake that we can never afford to make again. For the safety of Earth and your brothers and sisters of the 12 Colonies, I urge you to listen to reason."

"'Never again' must become your watchwords." He said. "'Never again' must be the phrase you think when you look at one of the nuclear weapons in your storage. Never again."

The speech Adama was giving to the ZAFT and EA delegates made feel like bad behaving children caught roughhousing too much and wrecked the house! Many began to feel embarrassed.

And rightfully so. They had all been acting like godsdamn children for the past two years.

* * *

 **Atlantic Federation - North Virginia**

* * *

Djibril listened to the speech as it was being broadcast across the whole system. It was passionate, powerful and Adama knew how to make people feel like idiots.

Too bad Djibril thought that he was the only smart one in the whole Earth Sphere. The Colonial Fleet had ruined EVERYTHING. "Sir, you have calls coming in from your partners. should I put them on hold?"

Djibril only looked at the aide with a sneer, "No, forward them to here," he said, "I have a feeling it has to do with the arrival of these 'Colonials',"

The aide nodded and left, soon, all the monitors around the main one, all showed a face he recognized as his fellow LOGOS partners.

"Gentlemen, I assume you've been watching the news?" he said, and everyone nodded. One of them was a man who looked like Muruta Azrael, but his face appeared much more calmer, and a scar was visible on the left side of his face.

" _My foolish idiot little brother jumped the gun, and tried to annihilate the Colonial Fleet. Of course, ZAFT was not innocent in the destruction of those ships, it did cause both sides to lose face,_ " Bruno Azrael said, with a frown on his face as he shook his head, " _Not to mention his impatience got him a bullet to the back of the skull_."

"OMNI Enforcer is full of bleeding hearts. I don't doubt that some of them will just outright leave and join those bastards in that Fleet."

" _Perhaps we should be focusing on what would make such people build such a...magnificent warship as_ Galactica." Bruno said. " _These Cylons could be a bigger threat than the Coordinators are._ "

" _Yes, that is something we should focus on,_ " another LOGOS member said, " _Although that damn treaty being signed at the ruins of Junius 7 will no doubt cause us some problems,_ "

Djibril just scoffed at that.

"Treaties and ceasefires are meant to be broken, my dear partner," he drawled, "Hitler's Germany disregarded the Treaty of Versailles during the 1930's, the Japanese Empire broke several naval treaties before the outbreak of the Second World War, and North Vietnam broke the Tet Ceasefire,"

" _While history proves your point, there is a third problem to that._ " Bruno said, raising up two fingers. " _And both of them are over a kilometer in length and make me feel incredibly uncomfortable._ "

 _Galactica_ and _Pegasus_ were the most dangerous things in the solar system, and knowing Athha, she was going to ask the Colonials to help ENFORCE the treaty. And with those FTL drives, nowhere in the system was safe from them. "We need a ship to counteract those battlestars." Djibril said. "And we need it fast. Get Actaeon and whoever the hell has shipbuilding experience that we have in our pockets! I want those battlestars a non-factor!"

" _We need to keep a low profile on this Djibril!_ " Bruno warned, " _If anyone outside our sphere of influence gets even a whiff of this project, the gig is up, and our organization is exposed. And since you are now the new Head of Blue Cosmos, that means you will have to keep those idiot extremists in line until we're ready to fight the Colonials on an equal footing,_ "

"I can do that, but those battlestars MUST be countered!" Djibril said. " _Galactica_ wiped the floor with ZAFT, and _Pegasus_ made the Peacemaker force a non-factor. We NEED a counter. And power can only be countered by power."

The point was true. The battlestars were the biggest roadblock for LOGOS since the N-Jammer, if not worse thanks to the FTLs. "Get me an agent on one of those ships. I want that FTL technology. Jumping a nuke inside Galactica is...pleasing to my mind."

The LOGOS Members all nodded before their images disappeared, leaving Djibril to breathe a sigh of irritation as he continued to watch the news broadcasts as Roslin retook the Podium and immediately began to outline the directives of the Treaty of Junius Seven.

* * *

 **Back on said Colony**

* * *

"ZAFT and the Earth Alliance will be forbidden to use Mirage Colloid, Neutron Jammers and nuclear arms." Roslin informed, reading off the list of terms to the treaty. "The N-Jammers on Earth will be removed at once, and N-Jammer Cancellers will be installed in nuclear power plants all over the earth, to prevent another...slow death."

ZAFT's personnel flinched at the mention of the April Fool's Crisis. Millions dead, and it was their fault.

"Orb will no longer supply military technology to the Earth Alliance." She continued, "One incident pertaining to this is the destruction of the Orb colony Heliopolis, which resulted in the destruction of the colony, and the deaths of thousands of civilians, the survivors of which were hounded by ZAFT's le Creuset team before they attempted to flee from the _Archangel_. Before most of them were killed by the pilot of the..." Roslin checked the paper on the podium again. "GAT-X102 Duel, Yzak Joule. Orb will stand by its' goal of non-interference in the affairs of nations once again. As such, the United Emirates of Orb are demanding his extradition for war crimes trial."

A quick check of the paper once more followed more statements of the treaty. "And by the end of this year, Blue Cosmos, the organization that started this senseless and fruitless war, must be dismantled and purged from the militaries of all members of the Alliance. We have a greater threat, ladies and gentlemen. It's time we focused on that."

Somewhere watching this, a certain white haired Coordinator gulped.

"The Alliance, as a Reparation, will hand over the Ptolemaeus Lunar Base to the Colonial Fleet." Roslin continued, "Since the EA had a hand in the destruction of the ships and the deaths of the civilians onboard, they too will suffer the consequences as well."

Any objections were quickly crushed by Roslin's next statement. "Any attempt at attacking this base or withholding it from the 12 Colonies will be considered hostile. And you saw what this ship did to ZAFT." Half the fleet was crippled or damaged beyond repair. It would take over a year to get those ships back in the fight again. OMNI Enforcer was in slightly better shape, but with the defectors joining the Colonials, Mobile Suits alone weren't the most effective weapon in fighting the two warships.

That being said, the Alliance only destroyed the _Greenleaf_ and the _Enkindu_. The _Pyxis_ , _Coba_ and _Argo_ _Navis_ were destroyed by ZAFT, not to mention damage to the _Astral_ _Queen_ was caused by ZAFT alone.

This was going to cost them.

"The Lunar City of Copernicus, is to be used as neutral ground in any peace negotiations between the 12 Colonies, ZAFT, and the EA," said Roslin, "It is to be treated as a Free City-State, and will not be used by either side to house a military presence no larger than two ships each."

The statements dragged on, with both sides getting a beating from the treaty in order to make up killing almost ten thousand Colonial civilians who had absolutely nothing to do with their war.

* * *

Off to the entrance to the pod were several of members of the Three Ships Alliance, who were simply staring at the museum exhibits. Lacus herself was drawn to one in particular. It was a deactivated and inactive Cylon Centurion.

"You're free to look, but not touch," she jumped a bit and turned as Starbuck came over. "0005 Series Centurion. Older model, but they're tough and dangerous in their own right,"

"I feel like I've seen one of these before." Lacus muttered, looking at the 'eye' of the Cylon Centurion. At that moment however, an image flashed through her mind before a phrase was uttered in her mind.

" _All of this has happened before. And it will happen again._ " The songstress stumbled back, almost falling back onto the deck.

"Lacus!" Kira said in worry as he rushed to her side, "Are you alright?"

Kira's shout had also alerted the other TSA members and they made their way to check on the Pink Princess, who wa rubbing her forehead from the image.

"I...I'm alright," she said wearily, while Starbuck looked on with a stunned expression.

"The frak happened to you?" "I saw... a large ship." She shook her head before staring at the model of a Cylon baseship. "Like that one, only with...arms." Starbuck scoffed as Athrun and the others looked to her for an answer. "Ok. Uh, only thing I can think of it the new model baseships, but those are a LOT different from the old models."

"I know what I saw, Captain."

* * *

An hour later, Adama, Starbuck, Tigh, Roslin, Kira and all the others were looking at a drawing lacus made of her 'vision'. It appeared to be a scaled down baseship hull, in a similar double-Y akin to the modern baseships, but the lower half of the Y were comically smaller, almost to the point of not being there.

Adama looked at the picture and everyone noticed the stone cold look on his face.

"Well, I'll be damned," he said, everyone now sporting a confused look.

"Admiral?"

"This ship, I've seen before." HE said, "40 years ago, during the last operation of the war. Intelligence indicated that the Cylons were making some sort of superweapon. They weren't."

Everyone blinked at that, until Adama continued, "My Viper was hit, and so I had bail out, I moved through those damned snow drifts until I came upon what appeared to be a Cylon Base." I got inside easy enough, since there were rarely any Centurions around, and...what I found was...something out of a horror film."

"How do you figure that?"

"They were cutting people apart. Experimenting on them. They were making something. After that ship left, the war was over."

"Did you report it?" Roslin asked and Adama just sighed tiredly as he removed his glasses.

"I did...but with the war all over, and the Cylons disappearing beyond the Red Line, the Brass upstairs didn't want to start another one over _one damn ship,_ " he said with an angered tone.

His gaze, which could probably burn holes through Galactica's hull if he squinted JUST the right way, turned to Lacus. "The question is, how the frak did you know about this ship? My report and all the descriptions I made were all shelved in some filing cabinet on Picon in Fleet Headquarters. And that was nuked in the first minute of the attack."

Lacus only placed her hand on her forehead, "I wish I could tell you," she said, "But when I looked at that...Centurion as you called, the image of that ship just entered into my head, and then, I don't know why, but I heard a phrase,"

Everyone blinked at that.

"A phrase?" said Tigh and the pinkette nodded.

"Yes, it said, 'All of this happened before. And it will happen again'."

Adama's gaze nearly bore holes through Lacus' head before he simply turned to one of the Marines. "Get our Cylon prisoner up here. She has some explaining to do."

* * *

 **Arzachel Base, Luna**

* * *

"Lord Djibril, with due respect, this is going to take time! I can't just draft a blueprint in a few weeks and send it to the yarddogs!" The man on the monitor looked like he didn't care about the realities of ship design.

And Lord Djibril didn't. "Director Kehl, allow me to be frank. There are two heavily armed warships in this solar system that brushed OMNI Enforcer's _Drakes, Nelsons_ and _Agamemnons_ aside as if they were dead leaves! I need a ship that can fight them on equal terms and BEAT THEM!"

Augustus Kehl shook his head. _Galactica_ and _Pegasus_ were causing quite a stir in the warship community. "It will take time to draft a single design-"

"You have six weeks! After that, I expect to come there and see a scale model of your best design!"

Augustus growled mentally at the man's ambitious demand. To think of something as big as the _Pegasus_ and _Galactica_ was not going to be easy, never mind building the damn thing!

"I can't keep any promises! But you'll owe me and my people double the salary for the overtime when, _or if_ , we get this done!" he said, "I get started right away on a design,"

" _Money isn't a problem._ Galactica _and_ Pegasus _are. You'll get your money...and_ Galactica's _ruined hulk._ " The call ended, and Kehl groaned as he put the calls out to his draftsmen and naval architects. They had a ship to build to rival perhaps the greatest warships of all time.

* * *

 **Battlestar** _ **Galactica**_

* * *

Sharon Valerii was escorted to the Admiral's Quarters in irons, as usual. But the simple fact that a pregnant woman was in shackles were a little abhorrent to the Terrans.

"I hope there's a reason for this?" said Murrue as she leveled a not so subtle frown at the Colonials.

"I'll explain as soon as this is over with," Adama said and turned back to Sharon, and showed the drawing to her, "You recognize this design?"

She looked at the baseship drawings before looking up at Adama. "Yes." She said. "These look like the designs for the First Hybrid's baseship."

"Hybrids?" Murrue asked, before The prisoner groaned before she had to sit down.

"It's the baby." She assured, "She's just a little cranky. As for Hybrids, they're...well, you can say the brain of a modern baseship. They control everything from the raiders to weapons to FTL. Organic computers."

"And what about the experiments they were conducting?" Adama said, wanting answers in order to put this ghost from his past to rest, or straight to hell however you wanna put it.

"They were using the people to make the hybrid." She said, "A step from the all-metal Centurions-"

Adama cut her off. "To you."

Sharon flinched slightly. "Yeah. To all seven models."

Everyone of the Terrans blinked at that, "Seven models?"

Roslin was the one who answered, "The Cylons had advanced much since the end of the war 40 years earlier," she said, "They were able to make a humanoid Cylon, who look and behave like real humans do,"

"Meaning...she's-"

Tigh summed it up crudely. "A fraking toaster. A skinjob. Whatever the hell you want to use, she's a Cylon. A thing."

Adama's almighty glare made contact with Tigh, and the man flinched. "Colonel Tigh's colorful descriptions aside, she isn't human."

"Admiral, can you do me the decency of not talking to me as though I'm not here?"

Adama looked at the slightly incensed Sharon. "My apologies. Thank you for your time. Marines, take her back to the brig."

"She is also pregnant! How is that possible if she's a machine!?" Cagalli said in complete shock.

"Skin Jobs are made human down to the last organ, including reproductive ones," Adama said, and then groaned, "And you can thank one of my men for that."

"Then...what's the difference if they're so human?!"

"Their brains use silicon-based neural pathways, just like their mechanical siblings. And they can come back."

Cagalli blinked. "What?"

"Say if I put a bullet through her head, she'd just download into another body. There are many copies. One of them put two holes in my chest and sabotaged my ship at least twice."

The Terrans were now more than terrified at the capabilities of these machines...the Cylons.

"Just what in the name of the entire universe did your people build, the Apocalypse!?" Said Mu, as he didn't want to meet one of these Cylons anytime soon.

"We did. And now we have to live with it."

* * *

 **Elsewhere**

* * *

Dozens of Cylon baseships were combing the stars looking for the Colonial Fleet. The many reason for the seeming...urgency of the search was simple. The Eight known formally as Boomer was causing trouble, as she and a Six were issuing a motion for peace and to leave the 12 colonies once and for all. If that happened, then Cavil's little...secret would eventually be discovered.

"Tell me, please, why our creators decided to make sure we had consensus instead of just leaving the big decisions to us?!" A 'court of Cavils' was currently meeting on one of the baseships, led by the first of all of them: John. "Instead of exploring our 'spirituality', we would have wiped out the humans and became the greatest machines the universe will ever know. But now, there's a fleet of 50,000 humans out there THAT WE LOST! Where the frak ARE THEY?!"

"We already sent Scout Raiders and a few Baseships to search for them," said another, "So far we got nothing back! Not only that the other numbers are beginning to doubt our leadership,"

"Great! First we lose track of those morons from Canceron, then we lose the Ouranos fleet, which just disappeared and the fraks from Hades Station, and NOW we lose Adama's Fleet, which has four out of five of our creators!"

"Well, good thing we think they're all dead. And if anyone tries anything, we still have control of the Hub. Hello, boxing."

John wasn't comforted by that. "Without the humans, the Threes will start getting more uppity, same with the fraking Sixes and Eights. The Twos will go 'dive in their stream' before picking a side, and the only ones that won't side with the idiots are the Fours and fives!"

"The last thing we need right now is a civil conflict between us," another, more calmer and smarter Cavill said, before he chuckled, "I wonder how our dear brother Daniel would've reacted to this,"

John and the other Ones glared at him for that, "Don't bring him up, again!" He snapped, "He's long gone and dead, and if any of the others find out we killed our own, we'll be good as dead as well!"

The Cavils were in universal agreement on that. "I only thought I would bring up the idea. Once we track down Galactica, we'll bring everything to bear on her, wipe them out, then our four creators will see that we were right about the humans. But we still need to find the humans. We still have someone in Galactica's fleet, too: one of our brothers."

"The one disguised as a Priest?" another Cavill said with a laugh, "How ironic, we're all atheists yet he picks the disguise of a humble priest,"

"He had to pick something, he can't be a member of the Colonial Military because, like the rest of us, our bodies are too fraking old!" John said, with obvious disdain at the fact he had an old man's body instead of a younger one. "We gotta get that part straightened out."

"Yes, getting back to the old metal is a great idea. These ridiculous bodies should never've been made. And what about our...other problem?" The 'other problem' was the Guardian Baseship. The First Hybrid needed to be put down and now. Those 0005s were going to cause more problems than they were worth.

"Still no word on them, except the remains of what scouts we sent out, and despite being 40 years old, they're clever enough to avoid detection," another Cavill said, "It would've been better if we had the Galactica do our work for us,"

"Amen to THAT, brother. Maybe they'd wipe each other out, too. Save us the trouble."

* * *

 **Meanwhile - Elsewhere in the Galaxy**

* * *

At another corner of the galaxy, what seemed like a large fleet of vessels flew by a smaller group of similarly designed ships, each vessel bearing the same colors and emblems, signalling them being of Colonial origin. Between the two fleets, two ships had strayed from each fleet, and had met together between them. Their names were on display for all to see: _Mercury_ and _Kratos_.

Within the _Kratos_ , as the crewmen went about their business, within the Captain's quarters two individuals were currently meeting with one another. One was a human male at the age of 35 years, standing 6 foot one, with dark brown, military crew cut hair, hazel colored eyes, a trimmed moustache and goatee beard, and a lean build. On his blue Colonial uniform was the rank pins of a rear Admiral.

Sitting across from him, was a woman who seemed to be of the same age - if not a bit older. who stood a hair shorter than the man, and had amystis colored eyes and shoulder length black hair with an athletic build, and like the man before her, also possessed the rank of Rear Admiral on her uniform.

"You have no idea how glad it is we _finally_ ran into more Colonials..." The woman said with a tired sigh, "We thought we were all that's left for a long time..."

"As did we, Rear Admiral Urei." The man said nodding. "We've been staying away from the Cylons as best we can… it seems recently though they've been… distracted."

"As long as they're not looking for us, I'm A-Ok with it." Rear Admiral Sasha Urei said shaking her head. "We could use a breather after all that's happened, Admiral Wallace."

Rear Admiral Philip Wallace nodded. "Agreed." He said, "We have a lot of ships in the Independent Groups… but we can't keep fighting the Cylons forever. We need some place to lay low, replenish… and without the bulk of the CCE, that's going to be… difficult."

"And we can't go back to the colonies..." Sasha said, shaking her head. "I still have trouble… believing all of this."

"I know the feeling." Philip said nodding, "I wanted to convince myself this was all just a nightmare I can't wake up from… but we need to worry about ourselves, and the people in our fleets now… linking up with another battlegroup of warships and civilians gave us quite a morale boost."

"I can say the same thing for my group," Sasha said with a small smile, "You have almost ten times more ships we have… I think the civilians will rest a bit easier knowing we have so many more Battlestars protecting them."

"We can only hope it lasts." Philip said, sighing as he leaned back in his chair. "We've already lost quite a few men and women since we left Cyrannus… we've been hoping to find some habitable planet to call home… but we haven't had much luck aside from a few barren rock worlds and gas giants… if we don't find a habitable world soon… we could find ourselves in a _lot_ of trouble in a few years..."

"Well, we're also hunting someone." Sasha said. "Helena Cain. _Pegasus_ is a valuable ship, and she's a bitch when it comes to vengeance. We picked up a lot of distress calls demanding _Pegasus_ come back to protect them, but by the time we got there, all we saw were Baseships and raiders. Then there's the Old Man." Oh, yes, the Old Man. Only one person in the Fleet had and deserved THAT title.

Philip chuckled a bit "Adama..." He said, "You think he's still alive?"

"He's a stubborn bastard, I doubt he even knows _how._ " Sasha said with a small smirk. "We got a message from him at Ragnar Anchorage near the end of the Fall, but by the time we got there, he was long gone. No sign of _Galactica's_ debris, so we can only hope he's still out there."

"I hope so too..." Philip said, as he picked up what looked like a set of badges for the rank of Fleet Admiral. "We found the _Atlantia_ during the Fall… saved as much of her crew as we could. Nagala was there... he didn't make it though… before he died, he told me to entrust _this_ to Adama… if I can find him. If anyone should take up the Fleet Admiral Rank out of us… it'll be the old man."

"Then we need to find him." Sasha said. "ANY trace of _Galactica_ , anything REMOTELY looking like the Old Man's handiwork. We've got a battlestar to find, and in this galaxy, that's a needle in a heystack."

Philips nodded, before he hummed as he looked at a map of space that they had charted. "We've sent out a few stealth probes our engineers developed here across the space we've visited." He said, "To keep an eye on Cylon activity… from what we've gathered, it seems as if the Cylons are… looking for something in this area here." He pointed to a spot where there was a large amount of red dots on the map. "We've been staying the hell away from that spot lately… but if we really are going to find the old man… this may be the only lead we've got."

"The deeper we go into Cylon territory, the less likely we can guarantee the civilians safety." Sasha warned.

"In times like these, we can never 100% guarantee their safety..." Philips said with a sigh. "We'll scout the area first though… we've got a few _Orions_ who can scout ahead for us, and ensure the FTL coordinates are safe enough, and see what the hell it is the Cylons are looking for in there. Whatever it is, whether it's the Old Man, or something else… we're not gonna let them have it."

"I think I speak for the whole fleet that we're all behind you, sir." Sasha said with a smirk. "Just tell us where you need us."

Philip smirked as well. "Get your fleet into our formation, Rear Admiral." He said, "Consider yourselves the 10th Independent Battle Group."

* * *

 **Ron the True Fan: (Starts playing Prelude to War) Ah, THAB. I have no idea how many times I'd wanted to redo this but never had the opportunity. Or the right co-authors. Here comes the pain, ladies and gentlemen!**

 **Patriot-112: WAZZZUP!?**

 **117Jorn: Oh the pain… the beautiful, beautiful pain that is to come against the Cavils...**

 **Ron the True Fan: And LOGOS, and Durandal, and...everyone that does the massive mistake of PISSING OFF ADMIRAL WILLIAM ADAMA. He will END you. With his Glare, if nothing else!**

 **Everyone: Ja Ne!**


	2. Chapter 1: Recovering Losses

**AN: We don't own S**t.**

* * *

 **Chapter 2: Reunion**

* * *

 **Battlestar** _ **Galactica**_

 **Ptolemaeus Base - C.E 71**

* * *

Finally, after dealing with the treaty of Junius 7, the _Galactica_ and _Pegasus_ remained in pace over the Colonial's newly acquired lunar base of Ptolemaeus, as slowly the civilian transports docked, and their crews and passengers disembarked as they gladly accepted the change of scenery. The only ships that were not docking were vessels to large to dock such as the _Botanical Cruiser,_ _Daru Mozu, Majahual,_ and _Zephyr_ , along with - of course - the two aforementioned Battlestars. While Ptolemaeus was designed as a military base, the Colonials had plans to expand upon it, to make it so the base had similar open facilities akin to that of Copernicus, to make as much space as they can for the survivors of the Fall, and the Battle of Jachin Due.

The Civilians were for once, happy to be off the ships, and in a real city, even if it is on a planet's moon. The EA personnel who were stationed at the base had left the base, taking most of the Base's data, and moving all essential equipment to other bases such as Arzachel and other locations.

Then again, the Colonials didn't need it. They were using it as a civilian shelter, not a military outpost. But that wasn't stopping Colonel Tigh from thinking big. "We're gonna need a new ship soon."

Adama and Roslin, who were both in the Old Man's quarters for the now-daily meetings, looked at the XO of the flagship. "Excuse me?" Roslin asked.

"Those former ZAFT and Alliance ships might be valuable, but we need something neither of them knows how to fight." Tigh said. " _Galactica_ and _Pegasus_ are probably the most powerful ships here at Earth right now, but they can't be everywhere at once."

Adama thought about it for a moment, before he nodded "You have a point," he said, "Though I doubt we're gonna be able to build anything the size of a Battlestar anytime soon… we'll be better off making something smaller, more to scale with the ships Earth is use too… Ptolemaeus does have spacedocks we could work with thankfully, but it will take some time to draft up some plans… especially without the CCE..."

"That kid from ZAFT and the Junk Guild might be able to help." Tigh suggested, "I've seen some of the things he made… I swear, the kids reminding me way too much of Pinkerton."

"Except, he's neither crazy, or pissed off angry most of the time," Adama said, "But, I do fear what would happen if those two would've met, Gods help us we'll never see the end of it,"

"Gentlemen, while your tales of the Colonial Corps of Engineers R&D division are continuing to generate nightmares, there is another option." Both men looked at Roslin once more. "Orb's Morgenroete Corporation is a major military supplier. And we do have a number of agreements with Orb. Let them do the heavy lifting while we get your new ship."

The two Colonial considered that option, but know it was a better offer than anything. Adama gave a nod at that.

"Let's see what they can do," he said, along with Tigh nodding as well.

"I'll have Racetrack and Tyrol deal with Takeo. I'll talk to Morgenrote personally."

"Sure that's a good idea, Bill?" Tigh asked. "After those fraking idiots pulled that stunt on _Cloud Nine_ -"

"Abinel's dead." Adama said. "The Fleet knows better than to think we'll talk with terrorists."

"And so is Tom Zarek, whom everyone is glad he's gone and floating out in space somewhere," Roslin said with apparent dislike for the terrorist.

"Then there's our other problem. Sharon's almost 8 months pregnant." Adama said. "And while I didn't object before to her abortion, that was because I wasn't willing to question a presidential order."

Roslin shook her head. "No. I will not let her raise that child." She said, "We have no idea how much of a danger it will be."

"I hate to admit this, Madam President, but as long as that baby isn't a danger to this ship or the Fleet, I will not do anything to harm them." Adama said. "She might be a Cylon, but I'm not willing to tear apart a family."

"She's a Cylon, Admiral." Roslin said. "The same model that put two bullets into your chest. you even tried to choke her to death on Kobol, and don't tell me you didn't think of just snapping her neck and ignoring the consequences."

Adama was silent for a moment. "I was tempted." He said. "But the look in her eye stopped me. And I've had enough of the hate. I'm keeping her in the brig, but I'm not sure she's a threat anymore."

Roslin sighed, shaking her head "And I'm not so sure she's _not_ still a threat." She said, "I can't take that kind of risk, Admiral - especially not now, after we've _finally_ found earth."

"She's a military asset." Adama said, "And that means it's my decision. I'll speak with her later and see if she can point fingers at any of the remaining Cylons in the Fleet. I want them dealt with. Neutralized by any means."

"I hope that means airlocking them, Bill."

"If they're dangerous, then I'll shove them out myself. If not, the brig will be fine." Adama pulled out a stack of photos, all of them pertaining to a group of colonies. "I've been tempted to ask the Orb government for assistance in repairing one of the Lagrange point 4 colonies. Ptolemaeus is prime nuke bait if you ask me."

"I believe the Junk Guild could help us there," Roslin said, "From what they've told us, there are plenty of colonies that are still functioning that we could use. I've asked for Mr. Takeo to come here, so he can give us a list of potential colonies we could use, and relocate to Lagrange Point 2. He should be here any minute now."

However, as Roslin said that, what none of them realized was that Jaden was standing just outside, and his Coordinator hearing was able to hear most of what they had just said, and his eyes narrowed slightly. ' _They say it's childish to wage war on something as stupid as genes,_ ' he thought, ' _And then they go around and get up and arms about one of those Cylons who has done nothing but help them, and take her child away…_ that _is all kinds of messed up. I can understand why they hate the Cylons so much, but that WILL bite them in the ass if they keep this xenophobic attitude against Cylons for too long._ '

Making a mental note to visit Sharon Agathon once he meets with them, he knocked on the door, before he was allowed inside. "Madam President," He said nodding as he stepped inside. "You wished to speak with me?"

"Yes, I would like your assistance in picking out a more permanent home for the survivors from the attacks on the Colonies." Roslin said. "Ptolemaeus base, as Admiral Adama once put it, is a nuclear missile trap waiting to happen. One of the...what did they call them? Island-3 colonies? is far more safer."

"And you want to salvage one of the ones at Lagrange 4?" Jaden deduced, as Roslin nodded. "There are plenty of abandoned colonies over there, a lot of them have been damaged in the last few years, either from sheer neglect or playing host to battles during the war… I _do_ know of a few that will only require a few minor repairs to get up and running… Mendel being one of them, though not many want to touch that place with a ten kilometer pole."

"Why is that?" Tigh asked.

"Mendel was the home of GARM R&D, lead by Ulen Hibiki." Jaden explained, "The exact details aren't known to everyone, but my mother once told me he was trying to make some kind of… super coordinator."

"Super… Coordinator?" Adama asked.

"He wanted to make a Coordinator who didn't suffer from the same issues 3rd Generation coordinators do." Jaden elaborated, "3rd Gen Coordinators are born sterile and can't have children, and GARM was trying to fix that issue… but Ulen went power-mad and committed a lot of resources to a single Coordinator who would never suffer those issues, and neither would their descendants. I heard a rumor he had _one_ successful byproduct… not sure where they are now… Ulen, his wife Via and almost everyone else involved in the 'Ultimate Coordinator' program died in a Blue Cosmos biohazard attack."

"All that said though… Mendel _is_ still a functioning Island One colony," He said, "The Three Ships Alliance used it as a temporary base before heading out to Jachin Due… all it really needs is a bit of refurbishing, a few repairs and its good to go. It alone could hold roughly 30,000 people without any extra mods. And I can list several other colonies in similar status. All we would have to do is relocate them to L2."

"We don't exactly need the civilian ships' FTL drives anymore." Adama said. "Stripping the FTL drives and their computers will be simple enough. We just need to find the right ships."

"Seeing as we lost five of them at Jachin Due." Roslin said. "Admiral, I'll leave the FTL situation in your capable hands. I need to have a meeting with the ZAFT Supreme Council on a...related subject."

Adama raised an eyebrow. "Related subject?"

"Junius Seven." She said. "It's a disaster waiting to happen."

"I know what you mean, though not many will want to do much about it." Jaden said, "If that colony hits Earth, it could be an extinction-level event… but that colony _also_ still has the bodies of hundreds of thousands of people who died there, and is the sight of a memorial… ZAFT won't want to destroy it unless it's absolutely necessary, and even _then_ they'll try to find a way to preserve it… as a cold reminder of what started the war… guess that's why we have GENESIS Alpha."

"GENESIS Alpha?" Adama asked, "Your telling me there's _another_ one of those things?"

"Yeah, but don't worry - it's not owned by ZAFT or the EA… not anymore at least." He reassured, "The Junk Guild took up ownership and turned it into our headquarters… we _could_ use it as a weapon if we had the mirrors, though we really only intend on using it as a means of traveling between Earth and Mars quickly… not everyone has FTL after all, so we use GENESIS for its _original_ purpose before Zala and Le Creuset demonized it. If push came to shove though, we could use Alpha to blast Junius Seven into pieces that will do the Earth little harm."

"I say we just nuke it and be done with it." Tigh said. "The Cylons killed millions of people during the First War before dropping those cylinders on the Colonies. You Terrans should learn from our mistakes."

Adama shut his XO up with his insanity-inducing glare before turning back to Jaden. "It took 30 years for most of the Colonies to environmentally recover from those colony drops, Commander." He said. "My XO has a point, and so does the President. Junius Seven is a risk, memorial or not. If we can jump it out of Earth orbit and stick it as far from Earth as possible, we'll do it. If not... I'd rather destroy a tombstone then cause the deaths of hundreds of thousands of people."

"I agree with that." Jaden said nodding. "I don't like it, but if it needs to be destroyed, it needs to be destroyed. We'll try to preserve it, but failing at that… well, we don't have a Bruce Willas to help us out."

"Who?"

"Armageddon - 21st century movie." Jaden said. "Watch it online."

* * *

 **Battlestar** _ **Pegasus**_ **\- en route to Mendel Colony**

* * *

While _Pegasus_ wasn't exactly Mobile Suit proof, she was more then enough to handle any idiots suicidal enough to engage a _Mercury_ -Class battlestar off before jumping away. At the moment, though, Barry Gardner was trying to find a legal way of getting himself back to engineering, as the debacle at Jachin Due proved he was more fit to keeping the Beast together then commanding her.

Thus why two of Adama's people were on board: one to try and train his pilots and one to keep her in line, as Kara Thrace had been driving him up one bulkhead and down the other for 48 hours. "How long until we reach that colony cylinder, Mr Hoshi?"

"16 hours, sir." Hoshi said. "There still isn't anything close enough to qualify as a threat to the ship on DRADIS-" Gardner tuned Hoshi out after that as his head began to pound. A telltale sign of Starbuck being near CIC.

' _Oh great, here she comes,'_ he groaned mentally, knowing he was not going to get any sleep later on.

And speak of the Devil, the said Viper pilot and Ace walked into the CIC, a foul mood look on her face. What else was new?

"Captain Thrace, why are you not on the flight deck supervising your training flight?" Garnder asked.

"With respect, sir, I don't need to micromanage my pilots like you have to micromanage everything in engineering." Starbuck said. "They know what they're doing."

Before Gardner could begin raising hell, hoshi caught their attention. "Commander, I'm picking up a distress call from a civilian transport." He said. "They're saying that they are under attack by an unidentified ship. They're being boarded."

Gardner sighed "Send a Raptor out there, see what we're dealing with first." He said. "Takeo said Pirates operated in this area after all."

* * *

 _Pegasus_ ' port flight pod was currently home to Raptor 718, which was getting ready for a short-range jump to this civvie transport. " _Pegasus,_ Buster: we're taking off now." Buster said. "We'll be back ASAP once we get confirmation of the attackers." The Raptor's ventral thrusters fired before the craft left the pod's deck and the rear engines engaged, clearing the massive battlestar before Buster spun up the FTL drive, disappearing in a short flash of light and a spacial distortion.

The Raptor later appeared at said location, and saw the civilian ship, but what was attacking them was another story.

Central axis, tandem Y hulls, and flying wing fighters. All of that SCREAMED Cylons. But this baseship didn't look like the modern ones. The bottom Y was comically tiny. Buster didn't care, though, as he spooled up the FTL drives again, jumping back to Pegasus as soon as the craft was able. "Pegasus, Buster: We have a Cylon baseship attacking the transport! Repeat, Cylon baseship attacking the transport!"

" _Oh SHIT!_ " Garnder shouted, " _Get back onboard NOW! We're spooling up and getting there right fracking now! All Vipers, get ready to launch! Emergency Sortie!_ "

The Raptor made its' way back to the barn as _Pegasus_ spooled up her FTL drives, jumping as soon as the multirole craft was on board.

* * *

Command Centurion A-12 was focused on the attack on the human transport they had discovered when they had jumped into the system. The search for evolution was always in need of fresh materials. The dozen or so Raiders had boarded the transport and were rounding up humans for experimentation, but this was interrupted when A-12's Raider picked up a new DRADIS contact. "Alert all commands. Colonial transponder detected. Identified as Battlestar _Pegasus._ Request instructions."

" _All units regroup. Prepare for attack by Battlestar_ Pegasus," said the overall command of all of the Cylon Forces.

"By your command," was A-12's response as the Raiders broke off and returned to their ship in order to fight off the more important threat.

* * *

 **BGM: LOZ Majora's Wrath Metal Cover (Little V)**

"Enemy baseship bearing 016 carom 000, range 30 LSU!"

"Launch all Vipers and target the baseship's radial arms. Those missile launchers are the biggest threat to us right now. And tell that frakwit Thrace to make sure the Cylons can't board my ship!"

The order was swiftly relayed as the Vipers all launched from Pegasus, the majority of them being Mk. VIIs while a few were older . The Vipers then went straight for the Basestar, as it's Raiders formed up to protect it.

"These toasters are using older model Raiders," said one of the Viper pilots, "You'd only see that on the museum section of the Galactica."

A squadron of Raiders broke off to engage the Vipers while two more groups attempted to get close to _Pegasus_ in an attempt to board the battlestar, but Starbuck and Red Squadron engaged the enemy formation, tearing dozens of Raiders apart in their first pass before they all broke off, attempting to fight off the Colonial fighters.

" _These Raiders are a joke!_ " Jaden shouted - having hitched a ride on _Pegasus_ to help get the colonies ready for transport - as he few his GuAIZ through the frey of Raiders, firing his Xiphias railguns and Balaena plasma cannons at the oncoming swarms. " _I hope those modern-day ones you told me about are more challenging than this!_ " One Raider tried to attack the GuAIZ from behind, but Jaden merely spun around and fired his beam rifle at it, causing the Raider to explode, before he went to find his next target.

"Takeo to _Pegasus_ , recommend we try to board that ship." He said, as he continued to fire everything his GuAIZ had. "We need to ensure it doesn't report back if it's here by accident, and I think it would be wise that the people of Earth get a closer look at actual Cylon tech."

The baseship opened fire with her large number of missile launchers, sending dozens of conventional missiles at the battlestar and her Viper squadrons before alarms started going off in _Pegasus_ ' CIC over the comm. " _THEY'RE LAUNCHING NUKES! ALL VIPERS, BREAK OFF_!" A single missile got through the defenses, impacting _Pegasus'_ massive 'alligator head' in a violent and bright explosion.

"OH SON OF A PROTESTANT WHORE!" Jaden shouted, before he made a beeline towards the Pegasus, and then deployed all of the GuAIZ Experimental weapons, and reached for his Beam Sabers. "Well, you know what time it is!" He drew out his beam sabers, which glowed blue, and oddly enough made a 'SHINK' sound effect, and if the Colonials were not seeing things… the word RAPE appeared in front of the GuAIZ for a brief moment in bold… before the GuAIZ unleashed a hellstorm of weapons fire, shooting down any remaining missiles from the Basestar, before speeding forward, bisecting Raider after Raider, making a beeline towards the Basestar.

A Raider exploded in front of the GuIAZ before Jaden heard something impact his cockpit hatch. Something heavy, metal and from the sound of the banging, VERY pissed off. The hatch began to move as the forward screen shut off before Jaden was greeted by a carbon-scored gold Cylon Model 0005 Centurion.

However, when the Cylon ripped the hatch open… it was greeted by the barrel of a Shotgun right in its eye, before a shot blasted into its head. "No. One. Touches. My. GUAIZ!" Jaden shouted, firing a shot at every word. The shots - while not destroying the Centurion, the kinetic force caused it to back off, before Jaden delivered a kick square in its face, sending it flying out in zero gravity… before Jaden sliced a beam saber through it.

Jaden growled, as he opened his Cockpit the rest of the way to get some vision with his screens out of action. "Now this shit just got PERSONAL." He shouted, as he continued to fire all of his weapons as he approached the Basestar. " _Pegasus_ , where would the FTL of this thing be?"

" _Uh, near the central axis-_ " Before Garner could even finish, Jaden unleashed a full volley of energy weapons and railguns into the central axis of the Baseship, resulting in a spectacular explosion, knocking out its FTL drive, and forming a sizable hole in the side of the vessel.

" _SUCK IT CHROME BOYS!_ " Jaden shouted, " _NO ONE MESSES WITH MY SHIT! AHAHAHAHAHAHA!_ "

A member of heavy raiders returned to the baseship, which was now powerless and adrift. But so was _Pegasus_. The massive battlestar had been hit with not one nuke, which Jaden saw, but three, two of which hit the starboard side engines. Pegasus was dead in space, but her Vipers were still able to fight. " _Commander Takeo, this is Apollo on_ Pegasus. _Our DRADIS is offline; could you tell me what the frak is going on out there?_ "

"The Baseship seems to be recalling those Raider Dropships." Jaden informed, "I've taken out the ship's FTL drive - she ain't going anywhere anytime soon. My suit's cockpit was breached by some Golden Centurion that tried to hitch a ride… took care of him with a few shotgun blasts… motherfucker, it's gonna take me a few days to fix the monitors here..."

" _We're sending out a Raptor to contact_ Galactica. _Hate to say it, but Cain didn't really give two fraks about_ Pegasus' _state so long as she could fight. We're down for the count for now. If you can, help out the Vipers: keep those Raiders away from_ Pegasus _until we can restore power._ "

A trio of Raptors launched from _Pegasus_ port flight pod before two of them broke off while the third jumped. " _Takeo, SAR bird 1: give us some cover while we fish up the pilots who punched out, will ya?_ "

Jaden smirked slightly, readying his weapons once more. "Did ya even need to ask?" He said, as he moved in formation with the Raptors, as he opened fire on any Raiders dumb enough to approach them as they picked up pilots.

* * *

An hour later, _Galactica_ jumped in, launching every Viper she had. Adama wasn't happy to see this ship again, it appeared. " _Pegasus, Galactica_ Actual: report."

"Galactica, _Apollo: Commander Gardner's trying to restore power to the rest of the ship; we're using handheld wireless over here._ "

Adama resisted smiling. Lee proved to be a better commander than Gardner. It seemed he'd found the man's replacement. "Marine boarding parties will be heading over to the baseship momentarily." He said. "The Junk guild's also sent over a number of people to help."

" _I'll let Takeo know - he wants to get this thing over with._ " Apollo said, " _I almost kinda pitty those Cylons over there, considering what he said he was gonna do to em…_ "

"Don't." Adama said, his eyes narrowed. "I know that baseship. And if it weren't for the fact that we need a more advanced FTL drive, I would nuke that ship and be done with it. I want that baseship under my control, Apollo. If you find anyone on board, get them out of there. And if you see any centurions, destroy them. They don't deserve any sort of mercy for the things they did on that moon. Actual out." Adama put the phone back in its' slot before Tigh risked speaking. "What the hell did you see on that ship, Bill?"

"I'm afraid you're about to find out, Tigh." Adama said.

* * *

 **Later - Dropship en-route to Cylon Baseship**

* * *

Approaching the Cylon Baseship was a Junk Guild-built Dropship, a UD-57A Iron Fist Dropship. Easily larger than a Raptor, and arguably better armed and armored as well. Inside the Dropship were nearly two dozen men and women clad in various types of armor, including a full team of Colonial Marines, preparing their weapons.

"Alright, rules of engagement are simple." Jaden said, as he prepared his black and red suit of armor. "Anything chrome or gold, you shoot. Try not to cause too much damage to the ship though, we want to salvage this thing once we clear her out."

"Sure hope you boys brought explosive rounds," One of the Colonial Marines said, as they loaded their own G36K Carbines. "Its the only thing that'll punch through their armor."

Jaden grinned as he pulled out his own rifle, which looked similar to a FAMAS Assault Rifle, with glowing red lights along its side. "Why use explosives when we've got these?" He asked, "I introduce you to the X94 Viper Laser Rifle, a little thing I've been making. I think these'll do just fine against Cylon Armor from what I've seen."

"If it works." A trio of Raptors followed the dropship in, fit with a large number of rocket launchers and a 50mm autocannon for anti-personnel work. "As soon as we secure the ship, Admiral Adama wants to get on board himself. I think he's got a hard on against this fraking ship." The dropship touched down, landing in the Raider hangar bay, surrounded by empty fighters. "The Old Man's gonna be happy about this."

The boarding ramp to the Iron Fist lowered, as the boarding teams disembarked with their weapons raised. "Keep your eyes peeled, ladies and gentlemen." Jaden said as he stepped off the Iron Fist. "This won't be light fighting people from the EA or ZAFT. Centurions are just machines, so don't hold back on e'm."

"Aim for the head if you can, and if they get close...Well, say your prayers. They're stronger than any human. Even a Coordinator." The marines cocked back the charging handles on their weapons before leading the way through the nest of vipers that was the guardian baseship.

"Move out." Jaden said, as the Commando's followed the Colonials through the ship, keeping an eye on everything around them, looking for even the slightest movements or glimmers of chrome.

Screaming was heard from within the ship. Women, men, children. "Frak me, the Old Man was right. They're doing those experiments. We gotta move!" Clanking was heard before two 0005s entered view and opened fire with their submachine guns. "FRAK! TAKE COVER!"

The Marines and Commando's took cover, however Jaden raised his Viper rifle, and fired two shots, blasting out a pair of red energy beams which hit the first Cylon, melting its head into molten slag, as the second shot hit the second Cylon square in the chest, forming a gaping hole in the machine. It attempted to raise its arms to open fire again, but Jaden fired two more shots which blasted its arms off, and then proceeded to blast off its legs.

"Well, it looks like the Vipers work." Jaden said as he approached the downed Cylon, before firing one last shot into its head. "Come on people, we got a ship to secure, and I ain't getting paid by the hour here."

* * *

Admiral Adama sat in the back of the Raptor as it approached the baseship. It was the one he saw at Raptor Talon. And he was tempted to order the assault teams to leave so he could obliterate it from the universe. "Mathias, this is Galactica Actual. SitRep."

" _We've cut the hard wire, sir: fraking central control is disabled. Whatever's controlling this bird can't steer or do anything now._ "

"Evac whatever civilians you can. If they're beyond hope..."

" _We're taking care of it now, sir._ " Mathias said. " _We know what to do._ "

The Raptor touched down in the hangar before the doors closed, and the Admiral stepped out of the craft, followed by the Marines. Dozens of other people were on board, some on stretchers. One was a little girl, curled up on the floor, looking particularly scared out of her mind. "Admiral!" Two Marines ran over, both carrying Cx4 carbines. "SitRep."

"230 civvies." The Marine said, "Some got cut open pretty badly by the toasters, sir. We're treating what we can, but-"

"I get the idea, Private." Adama looked at the little girl before walking over to her. He kneeled down next to her.

"Hey there..." He said, finally drawing the little girl's attention. "You don't have to worry about those things anymore… you're safe now."

The girl didn't say anything at first, she just stared at Adama for a while. "Mama… Papa..." she muttered. "They… they took them… they… the screams… "

"It's ok. They won't hurt you. the Marines are taking care of the robots. We'll find your parents." He looked at one of the Marines. "Corporal." "Yes, sir?" "Take this girl. Find her parents." The Marine reached out for her hand, and he gently grabbed her before leading her off. The two marines behind him winced. "Don't tell me. Her parents are dead."

"We found photo ID on the bodies, sir. Her parents were killed an hour before we got here."

Adama gave a sigh of grief at that, "And yet another orphan courtesy of the Cylons," he said, before another Marine arrived.

"Admiral, we found at least ten Raiders that haven't launched, including one that looks like a different model than the others" he said, causing Adama to raise an eyebrow.

"How different?" he said.

"It's looks smaller, and has a single seat cockpit, and it's more heavily armed," the Marine said, and Adama's eyes squinted at that.

"Hmm. Get these Raiders sent to Galactica. get on the horn to Galactica and tell them to get the Rising Star over here: we have people that need medical attention."

* * *

" _Yesterday, at 12:48 PM Eastern Standard Time, the battlestar_ Pegasus _engaged a warship that has been identified as a Cylon baseship, which was attacking an Atlantic Federation transport ship enroute to Copernicus City from Earth._ Pegasus _suffered slight damage from three nuclear strikes, but the baseship was disabled, and personnel from_ Galactica _and_ Pegasus _captured the baseship, but they were too late to help some of the civilians. 31 people were cruelly murdered by the Centurions on board before the Colonial Marines put them down for good. This is D'anna Biers, Colonial News Service._ "

Djibril shook his head as he watched the news as Arzachel Crater. "Four weeks, and already the Cylons have found Earth." He muttered, "Kehl, tell me you have SOMETHING that is at the very least _useable_!"

He received a disgruntled groan in response.

" _Maybe if_ someone _hadn't been calling every_ fucking day _for progress reports, I would get MY FUCKING JOB DONE FASTER_!" Yelled Augustus, " _I know you're not an engineer or an architect Lord Djibril, and have no patience whatsoever, but even the Design Phase takes TIME! But for good news, we're nearing a breakthrough."_

"Well, Kehl, I'm awfully sorry for being afraid of the most powerful warship in known space!" Djibril shot back. "If the _Archangel_ -Class was enough to hold that thing at bay, I wouldn't be calling everyday! But it's not. According to two different defense analysts, _Galactica_ alone can hold off two _Archangels_! _Pegasus_ can take on three!"

Kehl's face was stony, but he saw the point. "I have a ship the in rough, Djibril. By no MEANS is it finished, but it's a start." A 3D model of a warship appeared on the monitors, and Djibril hmmed as he examined it. It looked roughly like a world war II battleship in general form, if it weren't for the massive side pods containing the catapults and main engines. turrets and weapons emplacements were all over the place, and Djibril smiled.

"Four weeks, and I feel less afraid." He said with a sigh. "You've earned your pay. Refine it, and quickly. I want to start construction in two months on the first ship."

Kehl sighed again, "As you wish," he said and then the screen flicked off and Djibril went back to watching the other news broadcasts.

* * *

 **Galactica Hangar Deck**

* * *

Chief Tyrol, along with his people, as well as Lowe Guele and other Junk Guild members were looking over the Mystery Raider that was found on the Guardians' Baseship, along with the other ten Normal Types found.

"I've never seen an Raider like _this_ before," Tyrol said as he ran a hand across the hull, "It looks like a natural blend of the Raider and our Vipers,"

"Well, the damn thing looks like it was designed to be flown by either a Centurion or a human. Maybe those...what'd your Cylon lady call them, Guardians, were thinking ahead, making a new Raider in case they made organic Cylons."

"Well, the Old Man's having the old ones and the new ones shipped to Ptolemaeus Crater, same with the baseship. He doesn't want Cylon FTL tech in the hands of the Alliance. Or ZAFT."

"On that we agree," Jaden said nodding. "I've read up those articles on what those things can do. Until ZAFT and the EA change _drastically_ , I'm not trusting either of them with FTL tech… doesn't mean the Junk Guild won't stop trying to make their own."

"Yeah, well, sorry to say you won't be getting help from us. Hate to say it, but you might not know your Guild as well as you think. You guys might have ZAFT or Alliance agents, and the chance of FTL tech getting into the hands of either side is pretty big."

"We thought about that," Lowe said as she scratched behind his head sheepishly, "In fact, I remember when an Agent from Morgenroete stole my Red Frame, just for some data. Though I got it back, and I never blamed her cause she was just doing her job."

"See? The Old Man's got reasons to be paranoid. With Earth the way it is, we can't trust anybody."

* * *

 **Aprilius One**

* * *

Gilbert Durandal might not've been the most military minded of men, but he knew that most Coordinators were either neutral or pro-colonial, seeing as they saved the PLANTs where ZAFT and Patrick Zala failed horribly. That was enough to force him to rebuild ZAFT's forces from the ground up, from the Millennium series Mobile Suits to the new battleship class. The _Minerva_ was in the final stages of design when Boaz was nuked, and then, well... _Galactica_ and _Pegasus_ showed up.

He was impressed by the design and firepower of the two Battlestars, as their point-defense guns alone destroyed a large number of Mobile Suits and Mobile Armors. Their 600cm guns were also capable of turning a _Nazca_ -class, ZAFT's most advanced ship at the moment, to molten scrap.

The _Minerva_ was an agile ship, and well-armed for her size. She'd survive a while against _Galactica_ or _Pegasus_. But the battlestar was just as agile and even better armed. One ship would not be enough. So he wouldn't built the one.

He would build five. The _Minerva_ would be commanded by Talia Gladys, who commanded the _Ulysses_ at Jachin Due, which took heavy damage at the hands of _Galactica's_ commander, Admiral Adama.

OMNI Enforcer was no doubt developing something to counter the mighty battlestars, as well. But they would be brushed aside by Destiny. "Mister Chairman, the council meeting's about to begin."

Gilbert nodded before he stood up, "I will be there shortly," he said to the aide who bowed slightly and left, and Gilbert turned back to the design of the _Minerva_ on his computer before removing the data disc and turning off the computer. He then left the office, heading to the chaos that was politics.

The Council had been in chaos for weeks: the Colonials had caused chaos on a scale not seen since Junius Seven, and now their enemies had sent a seemingly scout ship into the Earth Sphere. The moment he arrived, the council was already in a shouting match, all concerning the Cylon threat and what the hell they should do about it.

"Well, I wasn't expecting a lively debate." Gilbert said as he sat down.

Eliza Joule scoffed. "Earth is going to be under threat soon, Mr. Chairman."

"Earth?" Jeremy Maxwell asked. "Don't you mean the Naturals?"

"I mean humanity, Coordinator AND Natural!" Eliza shouted. "The Colonials don't give a shit about us being genetically enhanced or not, and neither will the Cylons! They'll nuke first and ask question later."

"And that is precisely why we need to rebuild our strength from the Ground up," said Gilbert as he took his place, "And from what you told us Minister Joule, the Cylons were capable of hacking into the Colonials most advanced computers, most likely due to sabotage. Which is why we should increase our own Cyber Defenses."

"A simple network redesign won't help, Mr. Chairman." Yuri Amalfi said. "I've seen some of their records. Their Raiders have FTL drives, and are loaded with missiles. Their Centurions need explosives to take down, and the organic models are stronger than your average Coordinator. I would be more focused on improving the military's training programs, and refitting every ship in ZAFT with extra anti-fighter defenses."

Durandal nodded. "Agreed. Which is why I'm increasing the number of ships in the _Minerva_ program to five." He said. "The Minerva's four other sisters will have their keels laid down as soon as the _Minerva_ herself is under construction. Do whatever it takes to make the PLANTs Cylon-proof."

The Council members all nodded at that, as Gilbert looked over other files.

"Now, it has come to my attention that many colonies in L4 that were damaged, or abandoned are still salvageable, correct?" he asked and Tad Elsman was the first to respond.

"Yes, but why would you ask that?" he asked, and Gilbert nodded.

"Aside from improving our military capabilities, we should get the Space Program back on track," he said, "And the first step is to repair, refurbish, or rebuild from scratch all space colonies that were caught in the crossfire in the Battle of Nova, and other battles. That includes the Orb Colony of Heliopolis,"

"Le Creuset screwed us there." Herman Gould said. "The Strike's hyper impulse cannon might've done the most damage, but the Strike wouldn't've been deployed if he wasn't there!"

"Ladies, gentlemen, let's get back on track." Durandal said, trying to move the subject away from Le Creuset. "We owe Orb for the loss of their colony, yes, But we need to think about the survival of humanity beyond earth. The Cylons may do to Earth what they did to the 12 colonies. And without the N-Jammers...there is no stopping a massive nuclear bombardment."

"What about Blue Cosmos?" Said Orsone White, "They're still a threat as well despite the Treaty that ordered them purged from the Earth Alliance military ranks! The only nation whose being slow to implement this is the Atlantic Federation!"

"We'll have to deal with them when they appear in force." Louise Leitner said. "Though it seems they're interested in getting their hands on _Galactica_ or _Pegasus_."

Elsman chuckled. "Them and everyone in the Earth Sphere." He said, "Once you have FTL technology, you practically rule the world. And the only people with FTL drives right now are the Colonials."

"Yes, as everyone is reminded." Ezalia said. "Now, on to more...domestic issues. Patrick Zala's name is still strong among our military's personnel, and I just know they're going to do something stupid."

"Even after the bombshell of Rau Le Creuset, a fellow Coordinator no less, was the reason why the Bloody Valentine happened?" said Louise Leitner, with an angry snarl on her face, "Not to mention he's the reason why most of our fighting strength was lost at disasters like Endymion, and JOSH-A!"

"It's pride." Herman said. "Patrick Zala's words were simply that a Coordinator is better than any naturally born human. And yet...at Jachin Due, we were beaten. Not by Earth, but by Naturals. The radical faction within ZAFT may try to attack the Colonials at Ptolemaeus Crater."

Eliza threw her hands into the air. "Oh, that's just GREAT!" She shouted, "We had our asses kicked by _Galactica_ the first time! Why the hell would they want to take on that monster again?!"

"In order so that they can prove that Coordinators are superior," said Eileen Canaver, facepalming. "It will only end badly for them however."

* * *

 **Elsewhere**

* * *

Two battlestars soared through the night, on the outskirts of the twin fleets, both sisters of the same class. One was _Yashuman_ , the other, first of their class: _Valkyrie_. "All ships checking in, Commander." The XO said. "We're ready for jump, but there's a problem with the gravity generators."

A woman with redish-brown hair looked at her XO, hmming. "Is that a problem?" She asked.

"Might be." The XO said. "Our FTL computers are tied into them as well, ever since _Mercury_ saved our asses during the Fall."

Erica Karitos shook her head before handing him a clipboard. "Inform the flagship, but don't stop the jump." She said, "We need to find _Galactica_. The Old Man would love to know what happened to his ship while we've been gone. LIeutenant, jump the ship." _Yashuman_ and _Valkyrie_ vanished alongside the rest of the fleet...but they didn't reappear on the other side.

* * *

 **GENESIS Alpha**

* * *

"You need our help?" Jaden asked, as he sat in one of the offices of GENESIS Alpha, and sitting in front of him was none other than Chief Tyrol.

" _Galactica_ and _Pegasus_ are powerful ships, Commander Takeo, but the Old Man wants to modernize." The _Galactica's_ chief engineer said. "Mobile Suits are the new future, he knows that. And neither ship can carry them."

"So you want the Junk Guild to help you update your ships to use mobile suits?" Jaden asked, nodding. "I believe that's possible… I mentioned earlier how we could retrofit _Galactica's_ starboard flight pod into a mobile suit hangar. Just gotta take out the glass windows, and make some extra modifications. MS racks, linear catapults, landing wires… everything someone needs to make an MS carrier. I could use some of the same concepts behind the _Gondwana_ ZAFT is building - its so far the only ship of any comparable size of your ships… and even then its still a few hundred meters short, but the concept is the same."

"So you can do it?" Tyrol asked, and Jaden nodded.

"Bring _Galactica_ over here, and well do what we can." He said, "We may have to pull a few full-nighters, but we her at the Junk Guild _love_ a challenge... however we _would_ like something in return for doing this… some of the people here have been wanting to get a closer look at some of those craft you use, like your VIpers and Raptors. And if we could get one of those civilian ships with an FTL drive for study, that wouldn't hurt either. In exchange, not only will we start working on _Galactica_ , but I'll have some of our boys start planning some prototype MS that should fit the Colonials quite well. We've got _a lot_ of friends in places like Actaecon, Integrated Design and Morgenroete after all… hell, one of my friends is actually writing the drafts for his own ship based off of what we know of your Battlestars, only upgraded with tech from Earth… I saw what he was working on, that damn king of Franks gives me _nightmares_ just thinking about it..."

"Well, I'll have to talk to the Old Man about the Raptors. He doesn't trust anyone outside of Galactica-"

"JADEN!" Lowe burst into the room, panting. "We got...something closing in. Not sure what it is."

"What, Earth Alliance?" Jaden asked.

"Nah. Too big."

Tyrol looked at Jaden. "More Cylons, you think?"

Jaden narrowed his eyes "Possibly," He said as he stood up, "Not taking any chances, put Alpa on alert, and get what combat-capable ships we've got ready… I'll head out with the GuAIZ Experimental and scout them out, if I don't report back… call your Old Man over here, Tyrol."

"I'll tell Racetrack. But those Guardian Cylons didn't stand a chance against you. Why worry?"

* * *

Jaden's GuAIZ was only part of the way to the targets when he could get a partial image of one of them. The main hull was a hexagon, tapered to the end with antennae and other equipment, as well as what looked like gun turrets. Attached to both sides were two large pods. If Jaden didn't know better, he's say he was looking at _Pegasus_ or _Galactica_.

Having repaired his Suit's cockpit, he zoomed the cameras of his MS's head towards their flight pods where their names would be. However, instead of saying _Galactica_ or _Pegasus_ , they wrote out ' _YASHUMAN'_ and ' _VALKYRIE_ '. Seeing this, he hit the Comms. "Takeo Here. Tyrol… I'm seeing a pair of… well, Battlestars out here... " He said, "But they're not yours… they've got _Yashuman_ and _Valkyrie_ written along their flight pods."

" _The frak? I thought they were destroyed during the fall!_ " Tyrol shouted.

"Well, looks like they're alive and kicking." Jaden said, before A seeming comet shot past the GuAIZ, missing by only a few meters. Jaden's slightly shocked mind IDed it rather quickly as a 220cm shell fired from _Valkyrie_ before he received a transmission. " _Unidentified craft, state identity now, or the next shot will not miss._ " Paranoid, maybe, but they DID get the shit nuked out of them.

"This is Lieutenant Commander Jaden Takeo, of the Junk Guild to Battlestar _Valkyrie_." He said, "Out of sheer curiosity… you know anyone by the name of William Adama?"

" _...Are you fraking kidding?_ " The voice said. " _The Old Man used to COMMAND_ Valkyrie! _Where is he?! Where's_ Galactica?!"

"Currently at the Ptolemaeus Lunar Base, moving the Colonial Civilians there." He said before he smirked. "Oh, by the way… Welcome to Earth."

* * *

Erica gaped. "Earth? The 13th Colony?"

"The universe must've decided to stop shitting on us." The XO said. "First we find out that _Galactica's_ still here, then we find out we just found Earth? Zeus must be smiling."

"That he must be, Sam." Erica said, smiling a bit hersefl ."DRADIS, search for _Mercury_. I want to tell the Admiral the good news."

The DRADIS operator quickly made three sweeps of the area. He only picked up the GuAIZ and some wreckage. "No sign of _Mercury_ or any other Colonial ships in range, Commander."

Erica cursed a bit "Frak… damned Gravity Generators messed up the jump..." she said. "Any guesses how far off-course we went?"

"Judging by the star patterns, a good guess would be... over 50,000 lightyears, Commander."

"In layman's terms?"

"Very, very far, ma'am. Farther then we've ever traveled since the Fall." Erica cupped her chin, shaking her head. "Get Takeo back on the line."

* * *

"Valkyrie _to Takeo, you receiving us?_ " The voice from the _Valkyrie_ said, as Jaden hit the Comm again.

"I copy," He said, "Just got a message from GENESIS Alpha, _Galactica_ is on her way there now, Adama should be there by the time we arrive."

"We'll follow you in." the two battlestars fired their sublight engines, and while smaller then _Pegasus_ and _Galactica_ , they were still bigger than any existing warship Earth had ever fielded. These things were the Colonial equivalent of the _Drake_ -Class destroyer, or the _Laurasia_ -Class frigate. They also still kicked the shit out of both.

* * *

A flash of light signaled the arrival of the flagship of the Colonial Fleet to GENESIS Alpha, overshadowing everything but the station itself. The general opinion of everyone there was simple: no matter how many times you saw her, _Galactica_ was awe-inspiring. "GENESIS, Galactica Actual: Commander Takeo, do you read?"

" _Takeo here - glad you could show up._ " Jaden said.

"This better be important, Takeo." Adama said, "Your people said it was an emergency."

" _Not exactly an emergency… but your gonna enjoy this none the less._ " Jaden said with a chuckle. " _Adjust your DRADIS to my location… see if you notice anything behind me._ "

Adama glanecd at Gaeta who turned on the DRADIS screen, before blinking. "Wait… sir… I'm picking up Colonial Transponders." He said.

Tigh shook his head. "He's fraking with us." "I don't think so. Those signatures look too large to be anything but Colonial." Gaeta tappped at the DRADIS control keyboard, inputting commands. "Confirmed: Colonial transponders. And they...sir, it's Valkyrie and Yashuman."

Static came over the comm before they heard a voice. "Galactica, Valkyrie Actual: by the gods, it's good to see you're alive, Old Man!"

"Erica?" Adama asked in suprise, "What the hell? how did you survive?"

" _Its… a_ long _story, sir._ " Erica said, " _And I'd prefer to tell you in person… we can be over on_ Galactica _or that big station over there in a few minutes if you like._ "

"We'll do this on Galactica." Adama said, "And make sure you have security teams at every airlock. Earth isn't exactly the most united of the Thirteen Colonies."

"Sir?"

"Security teams at every access point into the ship, Commander. Just a precaution. Actual out." Adama hung up the phone. Exactly 3 seconds later, CIC erupted into cheering. They had just doubled the size of their military. They had every right to. "Tigh, get the ship ready to dock. I need to deal with something."

* * *

 **Meanwhile - At GENESIS Alpha**

 **Sick Bay**

* * *

Sharon would have to admit that giving birth was one of the most painful experiences she's had in her life thus far, screaming as she tried to give birth to her first child. She was, however, thankful that they were doing this procedure at GENESIS Alpha rather than _Galactica_ , since the Junk Guild had much better facilities to handle this than _Galactica_ or _Pegasus_ did.

"You sure she's not human?" The Junk Guild Doctor said, "No offense, but everything looks all the same as any human's."

Cottle, who was there as her regular doctor, scoffed. "Yeah, they're idiots if you ask me. They spent too much time trying to copy us that they didn't upgrade the plumbing!"

"Will you two SHUT UP?!" Sharon screamed as she grabbed the side of her gurney, actually bending the metal with her grip. the Major simply lit up another cigarette while chuckling. "Told you so."

"Right, right right." The Doctor said, "Okay, we may have to do this the old fashion way… don't worry Ma'am, you're doing great here..."

Sharon panted before screaming again before she nearly passed out. "That baby needs to get out now, doctor, and getting her out the old fashioned way isn't possible. We need to cut that baby out!" "We're not equipped for a C-section!" "Too fraking bad. Get me some scrubs and a fraking scalpel!"

* * *

Outside of the OR was Adama, who was waiting with a dozen Marines. "Are the Marines really necessary to protect us from a weakened mother?"

"They aren't for us." Adama said. "They're to protect her. While President Roslin's just thinking to protect our people, that baby is as far from a threat as a stuffed animal is to a child, Commander Takeo."

Jaden smirked a bit "Glad to see you didn't buy what she said either." He said, causing Adama to raise an eyebrow. "I overheard the talk you, Tigh and Roslin were having. I was starting to make my own preparations to ensure the safety of Sharon and her child. Knowing you're in the same mindset may make this easier."

"What's your plan?" Adama asked.

"Simple: I give Sharon, Helo and their child asylum in the Junk Guild, where they can live here at GENESIS Alpha." Jaden explained. "Its why I insisted her giving birth here, as oppose to your ship - in addition to the superior medical facilities. Roslin has no authority here, so they will be safe."

"I was planning on granting her that." Adama said nodding. "I've had time to think about this. Without being chased, I've come to realize that she's not Boomer. The Cylons might be copies of one another, but they aren't perfect copies."

Jaden nodded as they continued to watch the procedure. "Don't make the same mistake the EA made with Coordinators." He said, "It may be different… but there _are_ some parallels between your initial treatment of Cylons, and the Earth's treatment of Coordinators. I and most others understand we need to defeat the Cylons to save humanity… I only hope we can accomplish it without _losing_ our Humanity in the process."

"If they shoot as us, I will shoot back." Adama assured, "But right now, I need to deal with the Cylons that came with us. And dealing with that fraking Demand peace organization. They caused a lot of trouble a month ago. And I want them to either stop being a pain in the ass or to shove themselves out an airlock."

"Fair enough." Jaden said nodding, "If you need any help, let me know. I know some people who … specialize on dealing with groups like them."

"I'll give you a call." Adama said. "Now, you wanted to talk about refitting _Galactica_ and what it would cost us. I'm sorry to say, but FTL technology is still out of bounds. I trust you. I like your organization. I don't trust the people in it. I will do this, though. One of the civilian ships is being stripped for parts to repair Lodonia colony. I will give you its' artificial gravity generators. And the millisecond you can prove you can keep anything from ZAFT and the Alliance, I'll give you that ship's FTL drive."

"Sounds like a Deal to me." Jaden said smirking, "We'll get working on _Galactica_ once its ready and with your approval. Got plenty of people here more than eager enough to work on even a _fraction_ of your ship. And as promised, I've got people ready to work with your own engineers on making Colonial mobile weapons… let's just say they have a _lot_ of ideas."

"I'll be posting Marines at key points. If any of your people go near the magazines, CIC, secondary fire control, aft damage control or any further aft than Frame 250 without an escort, it won't end well. Don't take it personally."

"If they're genuine Junk Guild members, they'd be smart enough _not_ to go anywhere near their without your permission." Jaden said. "We're crazy, but we ain't stupid. "

Adama chuckled. "Just like the Corps of Engineers." He said, "Insane, but not lacking common sense. I'm going to Cloud Nine to talk with Demand Peace after I meet with _Valkyrie_ and _Yashuman's_ commanders." He paused before he scowled. "And say nothing about those two ships. The last thing I want is a panicking earth. Two battlestars gave them heart attacks. What do you think would happen if they knew we had four?"

"Say what about two more Battlestars?" Jaden asked with a smirk, "I only know about _Galactica_ and _Pegasus_. And we most _certainly_ aren't reserving some space in a derelict colony large enough to _fit_ two extra Battlestars for the Colonials… "

Adama gave him a nod before another scream was heard in the OR...followed by a baby's cry. "Keep that baby safe, Commander."

* * *

 **Battlestar _Galactica_ \- Admiral's Quarters**

* * *

Erica and Harrus Janop, commanders of their respective ships, sat in front of Admiral Adama's desk, feeling...small. But then again, they WERE small. They were in the office of the fraking OLD MAN. William adama was a legend in the Colonial Fleet for his part in the Ghost Fleet Offense alone. The rest of his career was just as legendary, and they felt small.

Finally, the door opened as Adama stepped inside. The moment he stepped inside, both Commanders stood up and saluted. "Admiral, Sir." Erica said, "Good to see you sir."

Adama blinked at what they said "Admiral?" He asked, "How did you-"

"Before he died, Fleet Admiral Nagala gave one last order to Rear Admiral Urei, to find you and promote you to Fleet Admiral status." Erica informed, "As far as we're concerned, you _are_ Admiral of the Fleet."

"I...frak." Adama muttered, "How, exactly did you survive the Fall? Yashuman and Valkyrie were part of the Caprica defense fleet."

"The CNP fraked us, but we were saved by the _Mercury_." Harrus said, "She nearly blew up a baseship until we recovered our birds and purged that fraking program. A couple of days later, we joined a few surviving military and civilian ships...and we came looking for you after the Colonies fell."

Adama's face was stone. "Looking for me?"

"'Regroup at Ragnar for counterattack'." Harrus said smiling, "By the time we got there, you were gone, sir."

Erica shrugged. "FTL doesn't leave any traces." She said. "So, Bill, how have you been doing since the Fall?"

Adama sighed "A fraking mess... " he said, "Though now its _finally_ starting to look a little better… we found Earth, and are starting to settle in… but the Cylons may know we're here, and Earth only just recently ended a planetary war that killed millions…"

"With giant robots that look far too disturbingly like Cylons if you ask me, sir."

"At this point, I have come to a simple realization, Erica." The redhead raised an eyebrow. "The universe just likes to play cruel tricks on us."

Banging was heard on the hatch. "Admiral! ADMIRAL, OPEN THIS DOOR!"

Erica chuckled. "New friends?"

"I am beginning to regret working with the Junk Guild." He walked to the hatch and undid the deadbolt as a woman in a labcoat fell inside.

"God blast you could've warned me..." She muttered before she stood upright, dusting herself off. "Admiral, I believe I have something you might want to see-" She began before she noticed the others in the room. "Oh, were you in the middle of something?"

"A debriefing. Is there something you need?"

"Yes! I've been doing work on your FTL drives - haven't gone near them - and I've discovered how you got here." She said.

"Excuse me?"

She pulled out a clipboard. "Your artificial gravity field was malfunctioning, and that, combined with the spacial distortion clearly caused by your FTL drive-" Adama Glared at the Professor, effectively shutting her up for a moment. "Uh, right. Nutshell. I think I can increase the range of your FTL drive to reach your, uh, Colonies."

Adama facepalmed. "you've been talking to Starbuck, haven't you?"

The Professor blinked, "Who? Ah, the colonial pilot?" She said, "Yes, she mentioned the idea to me when I was working on or own FTL system. I've been running the numbers, and I believe it _is_ possible to modify an FTL device to make a single jump to take you to the 12 Colonies you once came from."

"What's the point in going back?" Harrus asked, "The Colonies are a bunch of radioactive wastelands now..."

"The pilot mentioned she visited the colonies, and discovered survivors." The Professor said, "And even then, Rad Scrubbers will take care of the fallout-"

"Excuse me, 'Rad Scrubbers'?" Erica asked. "What is that?"

"They are Nanomachines which… put simply, eat the radiation left behind in a nuclear fallout." The Professor said, "They were initially built in the C.E 60's trying to purge radiation from the Kashmir Region from after the Reconstruction War, as well as other radiologically contaminated areas not just on earth, but in space as well. With enough of them, we could easily use them to purge radiation from your worlds, and render them habitable again."

Adama didn't bother speaking to her. He simply grabbed the phone attached to the wall. "CIC, this is the Admiral. Get a Raptor off this ship." He said. "I want _Pegasus_ here NOW." Dualla's reply was meek and scared, and for a good reason. He didn't even hear it, but he knew Dualla well enough to know she'd relay it. " _Galactica's_ going to undergo a major rebuild. _Pegasus_ is the only ship that has both an FTL drive and weapons effective enough to protect itself from the Cylons. And sending _Yashuman_ and _Valkyrie_ back is a bad idea."

"We… understand." Erica said sighing, "We only just got here… we still have a _lot_ to wrap our heads around… "

"I shall inform Jaden, and we'll inform your engineers on how to perform the modifications," the professor said while adjusting her glasses. "He'll probably want to bring some of his best men to help out after all. "

"Then I need to deal with another issue before _Pegasus_ leaves."

* * *

 **Arzachel Crater**

* * *

Djibril was a terrible task master, but his money was worth it. "It...is beautiful." The leader of blue cosmos looked at a model of a warship. with a massive, streamlined hull that reminded him of a seagoing battleship, massive engine pods that also held catapults and extra beam cannons, a perfectly shaped superstructure that both harkened back to the past in its' general shape and looked to the future with the curves and lack of protrusions until the top, with a command center torn from the _Archangel_ -Class and a large number of weapons emplacements, it was PERFECT.

" _My people have taken to call this the_ Charlemagne." Augustus said. " _You can see why._ "

And Djibril could. "It is a ship fit for a king." He said, grinning. " _Charlemagne_ is a perfect name for such a...powerful warship."

Kehl shook his head. "The bow is missing a final touch." He said, "I've asked your people at Daedalus Crater for the blueprints to that fancy plasma beam array you're planning to build there. What did you call it? Requiem?"

"Hmm… yes, that would do nicely." Djibril said nodding, his smirk widening. "With all of this might… the power of Requiem would do this vessel _splendidly_. I will have the schematics of Requiem sent to you immediately. I look forward to seeing your progress in the coming months."

"I'm finalizing the design." Augustus said. "I just need to add the cannon's muzzle to the prow before I can begin construction. I'm also expecting more money from this! My people have done the math on this ship's chances against _Galactica_. It would take two ships to engage her effectively. Three, if you want total victory."

"I will give you all the money and resources you need - just make sure you get it done." Djibril said, "If you can get me Five ships in the next one and a half years, you and your men can expect a _massive_ bonus for all of your efforts."

Kehl resisted groaning and smirking all at once. Money was good. the work, a pain in the ass. "I'll start once I have the cannon's design." "good. All for the preservation of our blue and pure world."

* * *

 **Battlestar** _ **Pegasus**_ **\- Colony rescue mission**

* * *

"Galactica, Pegasus Actual: we're spooling up now. Hopefully the President'll be able to bump that tally up a few numbers."

"Copy, Actual. We'll see you when we get back." Lee hung up the phone, sighing. "First day in command, and I'm dealing with crazy. FTL?"

"Standing by, Commander."

"Then jump us home. Time to get our people back."

 _Pegasus_ disappeared in a flash of light, different in color then the normal jumps as it was blue and gold rather then red.

* * *

 **Cyrannus System**

* * *

There was a short explosion of red light, before the Battlestar _Pegasus_ flashed into existence, prowling forward slowly as it approached the star system.

"Report!" Lee said, when the ship shook for a moment.

"No damage reported, sir." Hoshi reported, "FTL is still functioning, but it'll be a while before we can jump like that again… Report from the _Avenger_ coming in now - they're fine as well."

"Launch Raptor squadrons. Tell Starbuck to get those resistance fighters and get back."

"Sir, Avenger is requesting that we jump over Tauron to drop them off. They want to try picking the ground-side CCE HQ clean, see if they can find anything that can help."

Apollo nodded. "Spool up FTL drives 3 and 4. Plot a jump into polar orbit, then get us towards Picon. We've got a lot of people to rescue if we can."

* * *

In the starboard flight pod, what seemed to be a modified _Cornelius-_ class Tender was sitting on the flight deck, waiting to be dropped off by the massive battlestar - the words JGS _AVENGER_ written along the side. And a LOT of the crew were getting sick. "This sucks." The _Avenger's_ helmsman muttered - Ronan Watkein - said. "The Colonials do this all the time?"

"Bah, you get use to it." Jaden said, having already gotten use to FTL travel. "Once we get our own FTL drives working, we'll all get accustomed to it. I'm just glad we've got those gravity generators now." He hopped up and down the bridge to prove his point. "We just had to mod it so only the hangars have zero G. Once we arrive at Tauron, we head towards the old CCE Headquarters if its still there."

"What are you hoping to find?" The Captain of the _Avenger_ \- Trisha Hohenheim asked.

"Like I said, anything that the Colonials might need to keep their ships working." Jaden said, "They need all the supplies they can get while we're here. Plus, if we could get some additional notes on how their FTL works, or better yet a fully-functioning FTL drive we can study, all the better… I _also_ have an idea involving finding a relatively intact Battlestar and doing our best to repair it… but one thing after another. First we get to Tauron, then we worry about that."

"Avenger, Pegasus _CIC: prep for short-range jump to Tauron orbit. As soon as you're clear, we're going to go to full burn and get our asses to Picon. You're gonna be on your own for a while._ "

"Copy, _Pegasus_." Jaden said, "Just make sure you can pick us up: we don't have an FTL drive, so we can't get back home without you." ' _Not yet at least._ ' Jaden added silently. "Get us rolling Watkein, just us out of _Pegasus_ and prepare for orbital re-entry."

"Aye sir, _Avenger_ rolling out." Ronan said, as he gently pushed the stick forward, as the _Avenger_ moved out of the _Pegasus's_ flight pod, before turning towards Tauron.

"So... we're stripping the headquarters of what is more or less the Colonial version of us to the bones?" The _Avenger's_ Comm operatior, Catharine Blitzen asked, as Trisha Hohenheim sighed as she leaned forward in her seat.

"Yeah." She said, "From what the Admiral's told us, the CCE could strip a ship like _Galactica_ down to the bones, reforge the metals and rebuild the ship in six months. Their R &D people made most of the stuff we've seen, and I'd love to know what they didn't show the public. Anything we can use for self-defense would be awfully nice."

"This is our best way to honor the CCE," Jaden said, "For doing the same job we do on a daily basis, only on bigger ships. They'd want to make sure their equipment gets _some_ use if it means saving the lives of Colonials." He then turned to Catharine "Get the away teams prepared, CCE HQ is a big place, and we'll have a lot of ground to cover. I'll be heading out too… time to give the Warsuit its trial run."

"Are you sure that's wise?" Trisha asked warily.

"The Warsuit is the only thing we have that can _hopefully_ put us up to par with Centurions if it gets close-quarters." Jaden said, "Combined with my laser rifle, I should be able to take care of any Cylons easy enough. I almost feel sorry for any of them I run into out there. Let's get moving. I'll head out alone, scout the surface out."

* * *

The building didn't look fairly big: no larger then city hall in any city on Earth Jaden could name. But the building on top was just the beginning, if Jaden was right. The entire facility was underground, and probably filled with traps for Cylons.

"...as soon as I've got what we're here for, I'll head back to the ship." A voice said, causing Jaden pressed his back to the building entrance, listening in to the speaker. "Look, that data is what I need to fix those plasma weapons I developed if we have ANY chance to… hang on a sec..."

Jaden rounded the corner before making contact...and having a revolver shoved in his face by a man in a darker shade of uniform, a tactical vest, what looked like a G36K and AG36 grenade launcher and a headset on his left ear. " _Sobek_ , I'm going to have to call you back."

It immediately became a standoff, with Jaden pointing his Viper laser rifle at the man, and the man pointing his revolver at Jaden's face. "What are you doing here?" Jaden asked.

"I should ask you the same thing," The man replied, pulling back the hammer of the revolver. "Looks like you Centurions got an upgrade in the speaking department."

"I am-" Jaden was about to say, but he saw the man's hand twitch, as he hit the deck, narrowly avoiding being shot in the face. In a split second, he stretched out his leg and spun around, knocking the man on his ass. Jaden was about to bring his Viper around, but the man - in a surprising show of strength - kicked Jaden while still on the ground, knocking him off balance before he leaped back up to his feet, and then slapped his Viper out of his hands.

However, Jaden then grabbed the man's revolver, and yanked it out of his grip, tossing it aside before trying to punch him in the face. But the Man grabbed his arm, diverting it so he could punch Jaden in the faceplate, which did little to damage his Warsuit power armor, but it dazed Jaden for a moment, but not long enough to keep him from spinning around and backhanding the man before kicking him away. Both men then drew out their respective side-arms, and proceeded to punch and shoot at one another, each one failing to get an actual bead on the other as they fought hand-to-hand and at point-blank gunfire.

The man then delivered another kick - this one even more powerful than the last, sending Jaden back several feet. This moment granted him the time to retrieve his Assault Rifle, and proceeded to open fire on Jaden. However, Jaden let the Armor do the talking, as it displayed an amazing amount of agility, leaping out of the man's line of fire, and grabbing his Viper in the process before taking cover behind a building wall. He then came out of his cover, and fired a shot towards the man.

"OH FRAK!" He shouted in surprise at the _laser beam_ that was shot his way, before taking cover himself inside a building. "Who the frak is this guy?"

"Just who the fuck is this guy?" Jaden said, as he primed his Viper once more. "He one of those human Cylons? Fuck didn't think they were _that_ badass."

Both men emerged from their respective cover at the same time, and fired their primary weapons at one another, running across the street to avoid being hit, the man managing to dodge Jaden's Viper blasts, but his own rounds were only doing minor damage to the Warsuit. "Frak it!" He shouted, before he fired the Grenade Launcher of his rifle.

"FUCK!" Jaden shouted as he jumped out of the way, crashing through a wall as the grenade detonated behind him, as he slid into a crouching pose to stop himself.

The man approached the building, as he prepared another Grenade into his launcher. "Fraker's good..." He muttered, "Gotta get that rifle though… "

"Just try it Fucker!" Jaden shouted, as he _leaped_ out of the building, lunging at the man, grabbing him by the neck. "You ain't getting shit!"

"Try and stop me you-" The man began to say, before the sound of engines could be heard, and both men looked up to see a Cylon Heavy Raider on approach, which was soon joined in by several others.

"Oh goddamn it!" Jaden shouted, letting go of the man, and raising his rifle up towards the new contacts. "Fucking reinforcements."

"Wait… you're _not_ a Cylon?" The man asked in confusion.

"Nope." Jaden said, before firing a shot from his Viper Rifle, which hit a Raider right in the front of the craft - probably hitting something critical as it began bellowing smoke, and fell out of the sky like a rock, crashing into the city. "You?"

"Human, more or less, if genetic engineering isn't taken into account!" He fired the G36K at another Raider, the bullets entering the intake before the horseshoe-shaped fighter crashed into a Heavy Raider, taking both down. Both ran into the building while the Colonial reloaded his assault rifle. "Major Ronald Pinkerton, Colonial Corps of Engineers! And I know for a FACT you're not Colonial!"

"Lieutenant Commander Jaden Takeo, from the Junk Guild and ZAFT." Jaden responded, as he changed the energy cell of his Viper. "I'm from Earth?"

"You fraking with me?!" Ron asked incredulously.

"Long story," Jaden said, "It involves the Battlestar _Galactica_ , and Adama. I assume you know em?"

"The Old Man's alive?" Ron asked smirking, "Not surprising: Adama's a lucky son of a bitch. _Galactica_ , even more." The Heavy Raiders set down, disgorging a number of Centurions, all taller, leaner and meaner then the 0005s Jaden fought before on the Guardian baseship. "If you didn't knock that revolver out of my hands, we'd have a better time of it: all the bullets are explosive rounds."

However, Jaden then presented the Revolver in front of him, causing Ron to blink. "Huh?" He asked as he accepted it "When did you-?"

"Not the time for asking." Jaden said, as he armed his Viper, and raised it up. "Let's kick some Cylon ass." He fired off his first shot, which hit the first Cylon _melting_ its head off, and the beam going _through_ it and blasting off the arm of the Cylon behind it.

"Beam weapons." Ron muttered. "You have fraking beam weapons. I've been working on those for 40 years and now someone shows up with a portable beam weapon?! Zeus, you have a CRUEL sense of humor!" A 40mm grenade was sent flying into a group of Centurions, transforming some of them into molten slags of metal.

"Nice!"

"Phosphorus-thermite grenades: they burn through everything. Even a ship's hull."

Jaden and Ron both exchanged a look - Jaden depolarizing his visor to show his grinning face, just as Ron was grinning just as madly. Both had _finally_ met someone who was just as crazy as the other.

"First to 50 wins?"

"Hope you can keep up."

* * *

In orbit, Cavil shuddered. He didn't know why, but all he felt was illogical FEAR.

* * *

The Centurions had very little in the way of actual thinking. Unlike their 0005 predecessors, they weren't sentient. They could think up tactics and improvise, but they lacked that creative spark.

BOOM!

Which was currently slaughtering all of the Centurions on Tauron in the form of a laser rifle and molten grenades. "That's 37! The bastards must REALLY want to kill me this time! I knew I pissed the Cylons off by not dying, but SERIOUSLY!"

"41… 42… 43… 44..." Jaden casually said as he strolled forward, firing his Viper Rifle at the incoming Cylons. "You better catch up Ron! I've got plenty more ammo where this comes from!" A Cylon approached him from his flank, but before Ron could warn him, Jaden grabbed the Cylon by the arms, and proceeded to _Rip its arms out of its sockets_ , before climbing on top, and crushing its head between the Warsuit's thighs. "45!"

Before the competition could continue, rockets rained down on the Centurions, forcing them to retreat as a quartet of Raptors with enough weapons to probably be counted as mini-battlestars fired on them. " _Raptor 268, cleared hot. Major, get clear: you got a fraking Cylon to your left!_ "

"He's human, you idiot! Clear the area of Cylons so I can get to the datacore!"

"Don't worry..." Jaden said as he pressed a few commands on his wrist computer. "I'm calling in some… heavy artillery to take care of them."

"What do you… oh frak!" Ron shouted, as a _hoard_ of Cylon Raiders and Heavy Raiders came on approach. "We need to get moving!"

 **BGM: 'I Am Iron Man' by Black Sabbath**

"Hang on, hang on… 3...2...1..." Jaden said, before the skies seemed to erupt with pillars of gold, green and red energy lancing forward, hitting each Cylon Raider and Heavy Raider, blasting them out of the skies, as if it was a firestorm from Hades itself, as the skies rained down shattered Cylon scrap metal.

"What… the… Frack..." Ron muttered, before there was a loud _THUD_ behind him, as he turned around… and he damn near crapped himself as he saw a GIANT CYLON colored black and red with a pair of red wings, and bristling with weapons.

"That be mine," Jaden said grinning, "My GuAIZ Experimental Type II… welcome to the next evolution of warfare, Major… the Mobile Suit."

"It seems..." Ron smirked as he entered the building. "I have work to do. Sobek, Psycho: SitRep! Did you draw those baseships out of position?!"

"Negative, Major: There's six of the damn things up here! If we engage, we're as good as fraked!"

"Son of a bitch. Arm the nukes and take out as many Raiders as you can!"

Jaden just headed towards his GuAIZ. "I'll take care of your Baseship problem." He said, "Feel free to hitch a ride with me if you want."

"Your Crazy taking on six Baseships on your own." Ron said as he followed him.

"So? Stay here."

"Unfortunately for us all… I _like_ Crazy."

* * *

 **Meanwhile - In Orbit**

* * *

The first battlestar of the _Sobek_ -Class was busy trying to hold off six heavily armed and fully loaded baseships, but the ship was only a fraction the size of the _Galactica_ -Class. She could barely hold off one by itself. Thankfully, she was about to get a LITTLE help.

"DRADIS Contact!" The DRADIS operator shouted, "Contact is coming up from the surface! Its Fast!"

"Cylons?!" The Commander asked.

"I… I don't know." THe Operator said, "Its… not registering on anything we-" However, at that moment, the Comm's crackled to life as a voice spoke up.

" _Ladies and Gentlemen, I give you… AC/DC._ " A voice said, before the Comm's were filled with,,, Music?

* * *

 **BGM: 'Shoot to Thrill' AC/DC**

Jaden grinned as the GuAIZ Experimental rose through the atmosphere, with music blaring on all comm channels. "Now… let's get this party started." He said.

At first, the Cylon Raiders ignored the new contact… but that all ended when Jaden fired every weapon the GuAIZ had, as it sliced through the first wave of Raiders like a hot knife through butter, positioning itself in front of the _Sobek_ as it fired a never-ending volley of beam and rail weapons at the incoming Cylon Raiders and Missiles, matching _perfectly_ with the music itself as the Cylon fighters and missiles exploded like fireworks on Colonial Day, and any nukes they fired at them were also detonated, causing more damage to the Cylons than the Colonials.

The GuAIZ then sped forward towards the Baseships - with the _Sobek_ now reletively safe (though its crew unsurprisingly stunned beyond belief) as it approached the first Basestar. The ship fired what missiles it had, but it had used up most of its firepower on the _Sobek,_ and they had just lost the vast majority of its Raiders. It was virtually defenseless as Jaden unleashed a hellstorm of weapons fire in its central axis, igniting several explosions before the enemy ship detonated in a spectacular explosion in the center, sending its two halves falling towards Tauron to burn up in the atmosphere.

And that was by far not the end, as the GuAIZ sped towards the next Baseship… and then the next, and then the one after that, and one by one… the single Mobile Suit _annihilated_ and entire Cylon Fleet, reducing the Raiders and Baseships… into little more than scrap metal, the battle ending just as the music did… just over 5 minutes.

"Sobek, Psycho: I've got the data I need from the core." Ron said, after recovering from the show of sheer destruction. "SitRep."

" _...Major...where did you FIND this guy?!_ "

Ron chuckled. "Yeah, saw that coming." He said. "Prep FTL drives. We're leaving as soon as we recover our-" More flashes signalled the arrival of more Raiders. and more. And MORE. And...well, counting them would be demoralizing. "Ok. Too many Raiders, all armed with nukes. Frak this. We're leaving." Sobek's Viper squadrons began landing on the battlestar before a suppression field went up. "Where the hell-"

"Sobek, Pegasus: _nice to see someone's still alive out here!_ " The GuAIZ looked up, as the _Mercury-_ class Battlestar mowed down the oncoming Raiders in a hail of bullets and railgun fire.

" _Pegasus_?!" Ron shouted, "That…! Wait, that's not Cain… Lee Adama?!"

"Yeah, I heard the last Commander of _Pegasus_ got axed, so Lee Adama took over command." Jaden said. "From what I heard about her though, Cain sounded like a royal Grade-A Bitch."

"You would _not_ be far off." Ron began to say, before several archs of green and red energy passed through the line of Raiders, blasting several of them away. " _This is the_ Avenger, _we gathered what we could before the Cylons showed up_." A new voice said, as the JGS _Avenger_ emerged from Tauron's atmosphere. " _Looks like we've made some friends._ "

Ron's Raptor pancaked on Sobek's starboard flight pod, followed by Jaden's GuAIZ, as Jaden had the FTL coordinates for Earth, and Lee probably wasn't going ANYWHERE without Sobek. "How the frak did you GET here?! It took 57 jumps for us to get back to the Colonies!"

"We modded your FTL drives!" Jaden shouted, as he opened his GuAIZ hatch. "Now come on! I gotta do the same thing for this ship if we're gonna get out of here in one jump! "

"Fraking hell." The ship shook, knocking both men to the deck. "What the hell was that?"

"A 30-megaton nuke blowing up about 50 meters from the hull." Ron shouted, "I'd know, kid: I've had enough of them."

"We gotta move it then!" Jaden shouted, as he and Ron ran through the corridors of the _Sobek_ , soon arriving at engineering where the FTL drive was.

"Alright, the mods will only take me a minute to fix!" Jaden shouted as he slid next to the FTL drive.

"Who the hell-" One of the engineers began to say, before Ron shut him up.

"No now! Help him out!" Ron shouted, as he moved next to Jaden. "This had better work kid."

"If it doesn't, you have _every_ right to shoot me in the ass." He retorted as he plugged the wires out and together with others. "Alright, Red… red… yellow… green, green… Yellow… "

"wait, you're hooking the gravity generators into the FTLs?! I might be insane, but THAT is a bad idea!"

"It's how we got here!" Sobek rocked from a MUCH more violent nuclear explosion. "Ok, frak it! That was a 60! FTL coordinates!"

"Right here!" Jaden shouted, as he handed Ron a Colonial Flashdrive. "Hope your damn quick plotting FTL coordinates!"

Ron scoffed as he plugged it in and quickly reviewed it before typing as fast as inhumanly possible. "I've been called a living FTL computer. JUMP THE FRAKING SHIP!"

* * *

 **GENESIS Alpha**

* * *

Adama was twitching. EVERYONE in the room knew this was a bad sign. The millisecond the Colonials began backing off, the Junk guilders did the same.

Two minutes before, the Junkers had given him a report on _Galactica's_ status, and had informed him that _Galactica_ had her corners cut: parts of the ship were made from inferior alloys, plating too thin in some places and the bolts were too small in others.

"Did you _have_ to tell him all of that?" Tigh whispered to the Junker who told them - a young woman with long red hair and matching red eyes.

"I just told him what My brother would've told him!" She hissed back. "I didn't think it would be like THIS!"

The look on Adama's face was...disturbing. It was like hearing that his family had died and the rest had contracted cancer. He was choking back tears, for the love of all that was holy. "What'll it take?"

"Admiral?"

"What will it take..." He turned his gaze on the woman, his eyes red with rage and sorrow. "To get this ship back to the standard that she deserves to be at? What do I have to do?"

"W-well..." Amy Takeo said as she looked through her reports. "It… will involve giving your ship a total rehaul… we… can begin replacing the inferior materials and hull plating, putting it up to spec with… what we know of _Galactica's_ class. As well as replacing incorrect bolts… we can also start using Lunar Titanium on key areas, make them much more difficult to damage, as well as some Laminated armor plating to make her more resistant to beam weaponry, as well as upgrading her main batteries with the capacity to use beam weapons as well."

Alarms began going off. " _Action Stations, Action Stations, set condition one throughout the ship: unknown contacts CBDR. Repeat-_ "

Adama grabbed the wall phone before he spoke. "This is the Admiral. SitRep."

" _Two ships, roughly the size of Cylon basestars, sir. Junk Guild forces are moving to intercept and we've launched the Alert Five._ "

"Damn… we're not ready for this..." Adama muttered.

"Sir, DRADIS Contacts!" Gaeta shouted, "Confirmed, two targets heading our… wait, sir! Colonial Transponders! ID'd _Pegasus_ and… _Sobek_?"

"Sobek?" Amy asked.

"First battlestar of its' class." Adama said, "She was handed over to the CCE for a major rebuild a year before the Fall." Adama laughed humorlessly. "The day of the fraking fall, she was going to return to service. Get _Pegasus_ Actual on the line."

* * *

 **Battlestar Sobek**

* * *

"I officially hate nuclear missiles."

"That's why we've got N-Jammers."

"N-What?"

"They stop nuclear fusion, hence no nukes… unless you got an N-Jammer Canceller."

"...The frak?"

"I know, Fucking weird."

The _Sobek's_ hull had taken a lot of damage from the nuclear detonations, along with the standard damage from Cylon missiles. It was gonna be a while before the repairs were done… but at the very least, they were all still alive.

Jaden sighed as he finally removed his helmet, and slumped to the deck. "That was too fucking close..." he muttered.

Ron got back on his feet before grabbing the closest phone. "CIC, Psycho. Prep a Raptor for launch. I need to get back to Legacy ASAP. Thank you, Colonel." Ron hung up the phone before flinching at the groaning the hull made. "You know, I JUST got this ship FIXED! It took me three months to do that overhaul, and now I might have to do it AGAIN! Fraking Cylons have no respect for an old man."

"You should tell that to whoever build _Galactica_." Jaden said, as he stood up. "Before we left, my sister working on _Galactica's_ Starboard flight pod converting it to a MS hangar told me it seemed like parts of the ship had cut corners… inferior materials, hull plating too thin in certain areas, and bolts _way_ too small in the bulkheads. Then again she _still_ kicks ass, so that's a testament to how damn good you guys are."

Ron froze at that, before it seemed his whoe body shook with anger. "...I am making a list." He growled, "That list involves the people I am going to feed to a SHARK for being so fraking STUPID! I don't give a frak if it was a rush job! Do it right the first fraking time!" He stormed out of engineering, cursing up a storm in what sounded like Greek. Which could be heard from the other end of the ship, probably.

"Huh… he reacted just like I did when I found out about the _Cornelius_." Jaden said, as he went to follow him. "Gonna have a _lot_ of work to do..."

* * *

Adama was stunned silent on board _Galactica_. Again, everyone thought this was a bad sign. "HE'S on _Sobek_?"

"Yes sir. He'll be taking a Raptor out in a few minutes. And he's asking if you know the idiots who put Galactica together the first time. He's feeling murderous."

"Sounds like Psycho if you ask me. Tell him that the second he gets back, I want to talk to him. Adama out." He hung up the phone before sighing. "And I thought Galactica would be on her last legs."

Amy blinked "Uhh… who is this… 'Psycho'?" She asked.

"Your Jaden's sister, right?" Tigh asked, as she nodded. "Well… I believe Ron is _our_ equivalent to Jaden Takeo."

"You've seen _Pegasus_ and _Valkyrie_?" Amy nodded again. "He designed them. Everything after Galactica has his fingerprints on it: Vipers, Raptors, full-sized warships. The only thing he's had trouble with is energy weapons." Adama scoffed as he grabbed a glass and poured a small amount of brandy into it. "Don't think that's going to be a problem now."

"Oh god..." Amy muttered, "He and Jaden… they _had_ to of met by now..."

"The universe wasn't meant to handle one of them. Now there's two."

* * *

 **Aprilius One**

* * *

Durandal looked through the photos that the recon GINN that just came back had sent. There were two MORE battlestars. Smaller then Galactica, but bigger then anything they had. "Correct me if I'm wrong, ladies and gentlemen..." He threw the photos on the table for both FAITH members and the Supreme Council to look at. "But I was informed that there were only TWO battlestars left!" He slammed his fist on the table, not happy about not having ALL the information once again. "Where did those ships come from?"

"It obviously seems that more ships survived the fall of the Colonial's 12 worlds." Ezalia said, looking at the two vessels. "They must have met the Colonials here by accident… "

"Wonderful. Just wonderful." Calm and composed he might've been most of the time, THIS was not one of those times for Durandal. The Colonials had DOUBLED their military strength with FOUR FTL-capable military ships. The more paranoid members of ZAFT (to whom Patrick Zala was more of less the second fucking coming of Jesus Christ) were going to use this as an excuse to attack Ptolemaeus crater. ZAFT could not afford a war with the Colonies: they had FTL ships and the status of the Peacemaker nukes was still unconfirmed.

"We must keep this information away from the public… for now." Durandal said. "We don't want people panicking that the Colonials have even _more_ force than before. We need to keep a tight lid on this for as long as possible."

"Media control is going to be a bitch, Gilbert. The Colonials are the latest thing: everyone's always eager for more Colonial intel. Hell, you should see the models."

Durandal sat up straighter. "Models?"

"Model kits. Everyone's clamoring to make a quick buck on the Colonials and their press." Elsman had just overwhelmed Durandal's brain. "Humans...are strange creatures."

* * *

 **L4 Mendel Colony**

 _ **Galactica**_

* * *

The Raptor from the _Sobek_ was lowered down into the hangar bay, before the hatch to the Colonial dropship opened, as Major Ronald Pinkerton stepped out, alongside Jaden Takeo.

"And the universe is crying."

"Oh, shut up, Saul. I'm not that bad!" Tigh gagged at the idea of the CCE Major back on _Galactica_. Ron turned to Adama before saluting. "Admiral Adama. About fraking time. Also, do you have that list of idiots? I need to cleanse the gene pool."

Adama smirked a bit as he handed Ron a list "Right here," he said, "Not everyone, but these are the only ones that are still in the fleet. Cylons got the rest of them."

"Thank the Gods for the Cylons. They did part of my job for me. I'd like to perform an inspection of _Galactica_ before I shove off."

"Granted. You know this ship better then anyone." Adama turned to Jaden. "I'd like to ask you for a favor, Commander. I want you to go back with _Valkyrie_ to pick up another set of Colonial survivors. They'll give you the coordinates."

"Understood," Jaden said nodding, "The _Avenger_ will head over there as well. Hopefully the Cylons will go and Sod off after the ass kicking we gave them at Tauron."

Adama wasn't going to try to stop him. Ron, however, was. "Uh, kid, the Heroine's pods are barely big enough for a typical transport. Your tender isn't going to fit."

"Then we'll send _Pegasus_. On your way, Major." Ron saluted and ran off, heading into the deep recesses of _Galactica_.

"I better get going then," Jaden said as he went back onboard the Raptor. "There ain't no rest for the wicked after all."

* * *

 **Battlestar** _ **Mercury**_

* * *

"What the hell do you mean we still haven't found them?!" Admiral Urei shouted.

"I'm sorry, Admiral, but we're searched everywhere for them. _Yashuman_ and _Valkyrie_ are just gone."

Sasha facepalmed before just planting her head on the plotting table. "Godsdamn it." She muttered, "There is no way this can get worse."

Beeping was heard from the DRADIS post as if to challenge her. "DRADIS contact! Proximate size is that of a Cylon baseship!"

"Oh for the love of..." She growled, "Set Action Stations, and launch Vipers! Get the fleet ready for an FTL Jump, and War Rear Admiral Phillips!"

"Wait...Ma'am, I'm picking up Colonial transponders." Sasha sighed as she shook her head at the DRADIS operator. "What have I told you about accepting friendly ID?" The signal then changed from just 'Colonial Battlestar'...to 'Battlestar _Pegasus'_.

 _Pegasus_. As in _**Cain**_.

"Action stations! Abort the jump and target that ship!" Sasha barked. "That bitch ain't going NOWHERE!"

* * *

 **Battlestar** _ **Pegasus**_

* * *

"Jump Completed, Commander."

"Alright, let's do this again." Lee said, "Set a course towards-"

"DRADIS Contacts!" Hoshi announced, "Several ships on approach! One's Basestar-sized, launching Raiders!"

"Set condition one, stand by to-" The transponders suddenly changed from 'unknown/hostile' to Colonial, the 'basestar's' IFF changing to Battlestar _Mercury_. "Thank the Gods." He said, "First shot and we find them. Get them on comms-"

The ship shuddered for a minute as it was hit with something. "The frak was that?" "sir, _Mercury_ is firing on us!" Lee facepalmed. "Of course, they think Cain's still in command. Evasive maneuvers, weapons hold, same with the Vipers!" Hoshi looked back at his CO in shock, actually dropping the headset. "Sir?" "We fire, we lose two ships. Maybe _Mercury_ will stop if we're just on the defensive!"

* * *

" _Pegasus_ is turning, coming to bearing 289 carom 158. Ma'am, she's not returning fire. No extra contacts." Sasha shook her head, cupping her chin in thought. "That's not Cain's style. She's a shoot first, ask questions never type."

"She might of taken damage in a previous fight," Her XO said, "Or maybe she's actually run out of Ammo?"

"Mercury-Class ships have arms shops on board, and all Cain would have to do is use a Raptor to strip a small asteroid dry." Sasha said, "Something's not right." She picked up the phone attached to the plotting table before gesturing to the comms officer. "Get me a secure line to _Pegasus_ RFN!"

"Ma'am?"

"Just do it!" Sasha shouted. "I need to confirm that's actually Cain in Command! This isn't like her!"

A moment passed before they had a secure connection. " _Pegasus, Mercury_ Actual: state your identity, or I will continue to fire on your vessel!"

Static answered her before a slightly panicked and decidedly male voice answered back. "Mercury, Pegasus _Actual: this is Commander Lee Adama, service number 318742. Cease fire!_ "

Sasha's jaw dropped when she heard that. The phone followed suit. "APOLLO is commanding Pegasus?!" Her XO shouted.

"WEAPONS HOLD!" Sasha shouted, "Cease fire! Everyone fraking cease fire!"

The guns fell silent as _Pegasus_ silently drifted beside _Mercury_ , sisters reunited. Although one of their commanders was highly flustered and embarrassed. "Frak me. We nearly killed the Old Man's son!" Sasha picked up the phone, putting strands of hair back out of her field of vision. " _Pegasus, Mercury_ Actual: sorry about that, but...Well, Cain. How the hell did you get command of _Pegasus_? And where's _Galactica_?"

" _Apology accepted - and don't worry about Cain. She's long gone._ " Apollo said, " _As for_ Galactica… _well, believe it or not… we found Earth._ "

"...WHAT?!"

* * *

 **Orb Union - office of the Chief Representative**

* * *

A full squadron of Vipers flew over the islands of Orb, the mix of Mk II and VII fighters along with five Raptors, giving off a sense of protection by the Colonial Fleet. In the building itself, Cagalli Yula Athha was busy dealing with her worst enemy: paperwork. The only real highlight of her day was the visit from Admiral Adama, which was involving strengthening and modernizing the Fleet. "Madam Representative, Admiral Adama is here." Her secretary said, as Cagalli flung her Pen away from her.

"YES. Thank god. Please, send him in." Cagalli said, planted her head on the stacks of paper as she heard Adama approach as the doors opened.

Adama walked in, and couldn't help but chuckle at Cagalli's predicament. "Ah… the immortal enemy of Paperwork." He said, "Glad to see _that_ as something we both share… "

"You have _no_ idea..." Cagalli muttered as she sat up right. "Good to have you here, Admiral."

Adama sat down while Cagalli sat back up, rubbing her shoulders. "Your message said you wanted assistance from Morgenrote about designing a new warship for the Colonial military?" She asked.

"Yes." The Colonial Admiral said nodding, "Something that can carry Mobile Suits, and supplement _Galactica_ and _Pegasus_."

Cagalli huffed as she searched for a paper in the nightmarish stack. "I heard _Galactica_ was undergoing a major rebuilding job with help from the Junk guild." She said, "I thought MS carrying capability was going to be part of that?"

Adama shook his head. "It's going to take six months to fully repair and refit _Galactica_." He said, "Mobile Suits are a luxury at the moment. As Daniel Graystone once said: I don't want a cellphone that pours drinks and wipes my ass. I want one that works."

Cagalli sighed as she cranked her neck. "Orb has a status quo of remaining neutral in foreign affairs relating to military actions." She said, "Orb will not attack another nation, will not allow another nation to attack them, and will not intervene in the conflicts of other nations."

"And I sympathize with that," Adama said, "But you know just as well as I do, that we don't _want_ to start a fight with any of the nations of Earth. We are focusing on _when_ the Cylons show up here, at the Earth Sphere. 'Cause when they do, they won't care about genes or national boundaries."

"I didn't say we wouldn't help you… just, we have to go about this very carefully." Cagalli said with a sigh, "Orb is still recovering from what the EA did to the mainland in the _last_ war, most of our resources are being committed to that… that being said however, Morgenroete and the Sahaku Family have been pushing to upgrade our space forces, and defenses… prevent what happened to Orb last time, from happening again."

"Then the answer's simple. Talk to the President." Cagalli paused for a second as she processed that. "Excuse me?"

"Orb is one of the few nations that tried to _not_ get involved in this war." Adama said, "The only ones with their heads screwed on right. Two battlestars would help greatly with the defense of your orbital interests."

Cagalli huffed in disbelief. "Are you offering me the services of your two battlestars?" She asked.

"For self defense purposes." He assured, "As long as Orb is neutral, _Galactica_ and _Pegasus_ will defend Orb in space. We've also recovered several resources from the Colonies, including a former CCE officer. I think you could use his help thinking up new weapons and defenses."

Cagalli closed her eyes, as she weighed her options. While she didn't want to compromise Orb's status of neutrality… Adama's offer _was_ something she couldn't afford to pass up. Orb was in a bad position after the EA invasion, and they were still in the middle of recovering from the battle, refugees from Orb were still trickling back to the mainland from Ame No Minashira, as well as Coordinators who fled to the PLANTs. Their military was gonna take some time to recover from the losses they sustained… having the support from the two most powerful warships in the earth sphere at the moment, in exchange for aiding in building a new contemporary vessel for them, seemed like a deal she couldn't exactly refuse.

"I'll have to draft some formal crap for this and meet that engineer of yours, but you have a deal, Admiral."

"Lucky for you." He said, "He should be here right about now." The roar of a turbine engine was heard as a Viper similar to a Mk II flew over the building before coming to a landing outside. "He's nothing if not timely. To speed things up, I'm asking the Junk Guild to assist, although their efforts will be mostly focused on _Galactica's_ rebuild."

"Wait, what?"

" _Galactica_ was built using subpar materials. I'm fixing that problem."

Cagalli fainted soon after hearing _that_ news.

* * *

" _In news today, a formal agreement was signed between the United Emirates of Orb and the 12 Colonies of Kobol, stating that Orb's space-based interests would be under the protection of the Colonial Fleet. Critics have stated that this is Orb's attempt to grab power within the Earth Sphere using the Colonial Fleet._ "

In Djibril's office, the man sipped his wine while scowling, his fingers almost to the point of crushing the fine glass in his right hand.

" _In similar news, rumors of two additional battlestars have been confirmed by President Roslin in a press conference earlier today._ "

Crick. Crick. CRACK.

The glass shattered, cutting deep into his hands. "WHAT?!"

" _President Roslin confirmed the Battlestars -_ Valkyrie _and_ Yashuman _\- are additional survivors from the fall of the Colonial's homeworlds._ " The news anchor reported, " _They have been since integrated within the current Colonial defense forces around Ptolemaeus, as well as aiding in the Colonial's Colony Relocation Project, involving repositioning several damaged and/or abandoned colonies in L4, into L2 for their civilians to occupy._ "

Djibril began picking the glass out of his hand, wincing slightly, but that was overshadowed by rage as images of _Yashuman_ and _Valkyrie_ rolled by on the monitors. four. FOUR battlestars. Adama could be three places at once with Galactica, Pegasus and the two smaller sister ships!

" _Chairman Durandal stated that 'if the Colonials get any more firepower, the status quo will be replaced by Colonial dominance' in a statement to the press only a few hours ago. President Roslin has stated that they have no intent to do anything but lick their wounds and prepare for the eventual Cylon invasion, but many are doubtful. This is Monica Goldman, CNN._ "

Djibril tapped a button before Kehl's face appeared on it. "Director, it's been three months. I presume construction has begun?"

" _So you heard the news too..._ " Augustus said, " _Yeah, Keels have been laid, and we've beginning construction of the first three. We're at 20% completion on the first ship, and we should have it at full functioning capacity on schedule._ "

"Good." He said, "We need at least three to take on _Galactica_. I'll have my contacts in OMNI Enforcer find someone to command this monster. Someone that is both competent AND loyal, not a bleeding heart like Badgiruel or Ramius."

" _Don't be surprised if Adama beats the_ Charlemagne _the first time. He knows his ship better than anyone._ "

"I can tolerate that."

* * *

 **Jupiter orbit**

* * *

Flashes of light signaled the arrival of hundreds of Colonial warships, followed by more ships of similar design: heavy tenders, mobile shipyards, and three massive warships that made the Junk guild people on _Pegasus_ shit their pants.

"Holy FUCKING hell!" Jaden shouted at the sight of the three juggernauts in the fleet. "What the hell are THOSE?!"

Lee stepped forward, whistling. " _Legacy_..." He said, pointed at the smallest of the three, which looked like a massive _Mercury_ with six flight pods. " _Zeus_ and _Akron_. Those are battlestar dreadnoughts. The CCE was going to propose that we replace ten battlestar groups with ten of those things. _Legacy_ was the tech demonstrator while _Zeus_ was the first working prototype. President Adar axed the project, but they kept the other 8 prototype frames. Just in case."

"...Adar was a motherfucking _Idiot._ " Jaden said, "Just… just LOOK AT THEM! Its a FLEET INCARNATE! The sheer _appearance_ of the damn thing scares me shitless! Only the most suicidal, moronic, pigheaded IDIOT would want to go up against just ONE of those things!"

At that moment, _Galactica_ jumped in, heading straight for one of the ships that looked like a pair of airships five times the size of _Pegasus_ were attached to a _Valkyrie_ -Class hull. The 'blimp' on the starboard side opened up as _Galactica_ approached. "We're not going to see her for a while." Lee said, "The CCE's going to take _Galactica_ apart and put her back together properly."

A pair of Raptors flew towards _Pegasus_ , followed by a large shuttle. "Frak. Dad's moving his flag here. If you want any hand in that refit, I'd get on that raptor when it heads back."

"Already organized the crew for that," Jaden said, "I called out the best mechanics, engineers, technicians and computer operators the Junk Guild has to offer to help Refit your old man's ship. They'll bring that ship up to whole new heights of badassness when we're done with her." He then looked at his wristpad. "Also, to help get your civilians situated here, I'm setting a few L4 colonies aside for the CCE to equip with Jump Drives, to bring them here. Most of them will need one hell of an overhaul from various forms of damage and neglect, but considering these are the same guys who made _those_ monsters, it shouldn't be a problem… if a bunch of civilians showed up at the Earth Sphere, people will wonder where they came from… the EA and ZAFT _already_ had a heart attack from your two _Valkyries_ , imagine a _whole Armada_?"

"Many sets of brown pants and a lot of suicides, I think." Apollo looked at his watch before sighing. "I need to go: I've been assigned as Orb's 'Colonial military advisor'. Don't want to get in the Old Man's way."

* * *

Sasha and Wallace were grinning insufferably as Adama approached, wearing the same commander's uniform he had since before the Fall. Both saluted before the man came to a stop just outside CIC.

"Good to see you, _Fleet Admiral_ Adama." Wallace said, as he pulled out the rank pins of a Fleet Admiral. "I believe these belong to you."

He placed them in Adama's hand, and Adama simply stared at them. "I think this is the fastest promotion anyone's ever gotten." He said, "And the biggest."

"Yeah, a four rank jump is pretty extreme, but it was either you or Cain. And who the frak was going to trust that bitch?"

Adama removed the pins from his collar before fixing the new ones in place. "Neither of you are going to like my first order." He said.

"Sir… we've been through a _lot_ of shit these last few months." Sasha said, "For the first time since the Colonies fell… things are starting to look up for us. We've found Earth, you, nine Battlestar Groups, _and_ he CCE… Morale is higher than its ever been since the Cylons hit us. Whatever orders you have for us, we'll do it."

"None our your ships are to jump into Earth orbit." Both admirals looked at one another in shock. "what?"

"Earth is nothing like any of the Colonies." Adama said, "It's not united, and two battlestars scared the wits out of everyone. I know that you just got here, and you're probably looking forward to putting your feet on the dirt, but unless everything hits the fan, _Galactica_ , _Pegasus_ , _Valkyrie_ and _Yashuman_ are the only ships to be seen in the Earth sphere."

"But.. what about the civilians?" Philips asked, "They want to get out of their damn ships, they've been cooped up in them for _months_! What do you expect us to-"

"Its being taken care of," Adama assured, "The Junk Guild - a group of salvagers and engineers _disturbingly_ similar to the CCE - is helping prepare several space colonies for FTL travel, moving them to Jovian orbit here, at the planet Jupiter. When their ready, the civilians will be allowed to disembark on the colonies, and stay there until we can stabilize the Earth Sphere."

Sasha let out a breath. "Sir, I know you want to keep the fleet a secret-"

"If the Cylons jump into orbit en masse, jump everything you've got to Earth." Adama said. "But barring that, only four ships go. I'm sorry. The president agrees with me on this."

Philips sighed "Well… we said we'd follow whatever order it was..." he said, "Though the Gemenese are _not_ gonna be happy about this… "

"What makes you say that?"

"Its like finding Kobol by accident," Philips said, "They'll be treating Earth like some sacred planet of the Gods, protected from the Cylons. Don't say that they wouldn't, Sasha - you know they would."

Adama winced at the mention of Kobol. "Oh, Gods, you didn't." Philips muttered.

"We did." He confirmed, nodding. "And I lost 50 people thanks to that damnedable planet."

"Any return will have its cost in blood," Sasha quoted from the Scrolls. "Looks like _that_ part was true at least… how about we _don't_ tell the Gemenese about that detail or now?"

"Damn right about that." Adama said, "At least we don't have to deal with Tom Zarek and his fraking cronies now."

"Zarek?" Sasha asked, "What happened?"

"The _Astral Queen_ was hit and the hull was breached." He said, "All of the prisoners were vented into space. Good riddance, if you ask me."

"I'll drink to that - the whole galaxy got a whole lot better without _him_ around." Philips said, before he sighed. "Well… I guess we should start getting comfortable here at Jupiter… its gonna be a long stay..."

* * *

 **Ron the True Fan: Well, politics are a bitch, but I think we've mastered it by now, don't you think?**

 **117Jorn: Meh, we're getting there. But this fic isn't just about politics thankfully :D**

 **Ron the True Fan: It's not all action. BSG didn't have a battle every episode. But there will be blood.**

 **Patriot-112: And I agree.**

 **Ja Ne!**


	3. Chapter 2: Infiltration

**AN: We don't own S**t.**

* * *

 **Chapter 3: Infiltration**

* * *

 **Battlestar** _ **Galactica**_

 **Ptolemaeus Base - December 18th, C.E 71**

* * *

"Now… that looks _much_ better."

"So say we all, Ron."

Jaden and Ron were at the Ptolemaeus Base, as they looked out an observation window where the newly refurbished, repaired and _corrected_ Battlestar _Galactica_. The ship looked as if it had just rolled out of the Shipyards of Caprica, looking completely renewed, sponsoring its new beam cannons, laminated armor and other features added by the cooperation between the Junk Guild and the CCE. And it was a glorious sight to behold for all.

"And with the added Mobile Suit Launch Catapults, and the fact it could carry about 40 mobile suits in each of those pods, it's gonna be one HELL of a monster to take out," said Will as he appeared, now dressed in his own version of the Colonial Fleet Uniform, which was colored grey, with the symbol for Earth on the patches on his shoulders, "And since this upgrade is undoubtedly going to the rest of the Battlestars and other warships of your fleet...I can only say I pity those poor sons-of-bitches we're going up against, by God I do,"

"The Gods have no pity, so why the frak should we?" Will looked at the so-called 'field marshal' of the CCE as the man leaned on a support beam. "You're a polytheist?"

"Was born one. I'm devote, just not a fraking zealot like most of the Gemenese. The gods know that I when I invoke their names in vain, it's to curse the bastards on the other end."

Will only smirked, "Same here," he said, "Of course, on Earth we used to worship many Gods, like the Greeks, Romans, Japanese, and then came Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. Although, Islam is the most Radical of the three,"

"Fraking monads. Soldiers of the One blew up a monorail when I was 14." Ron said. "Those fraking idiots started the Cylon War with that bombing."

"Atheist," Jaden said shrugging, "Been one since I was 18. We keep on believing that we as humans know all we need to know from a handful of books and scriptures wrote by other humans claiming it was 'divinely inspired', when we're just one small spec of dust in a massive cosmos of planets and galaxies. Not saying I'm up in arms _against_ religion, but so long as you don't put your faith in front of everything else, and try to enforce your own views upon people who don't believe what you do, I've got no problems… we had _enough_ of that during the 21st Century."

Over the loudspeakers, the Colonial anthem began to play as the lights on the outer hull lit up, showing off Galactica's fully armored and rearmed form. "Those fraking structural members aren't going to get hairline cracks now. I used that lunar titanium stuff for them. Destroying her from within isn't possible if you try it that way."

"Lunar Titanium is good," Will said, "It's tougher than the stuff you see on the EA ships. A short burst from a GiNN's assault rifle and the whole damn ship lights up like a firecracker,"

"I could ram _Galactica_ into something and it wouldn't die." Ron said, " _Galactica_ would only suffer minor hull damage. The Admiral's going to be pleased. The Old Girl lives again." Ron turned to Jaden. "Speaking of which, I thought the Junk guild was going to lend us a few Mobile Suits until we got our own Mobile Suits operational?"

"Yup." Jaden said nodding looking at a handheld. "We've recently begun commissioning the MWF-JG71 Raysta's into Junk Guild service after an Orb Engineer designed them for us after we saved her from the EA, they'll be working along with our older ZGMF-1017 Works GiNN's. I took the specs she made, and made some additional improvements to make a more combat-capable MS that should fit the Colonials well for the time being. Basic equipment MS-wise… 75mm dual head vulcans, beam sabers, anti-armor daggers… and the OS is calibrated to be compatible with virtually every standard-issue weapon from current EA, Orb and ZAFT mobile weapons, so if you had too you could capture stuff from them after battles. GiNN assault rifles and Ion Cannons, Missiles, EA and Orb beam rifles… anything. Right now… we're just calling them the Raysta A1 Types. We're working on some more advance models for the future as well, including an assault artillery and stealth variant."

"Admiral Adama's going to be happy about that." Ron said. "At least until he finally authorizes my teams to actually begin designing a new Colonial MS."

Jaden blinked as he turned to Ron. "What? You haven't started already?" He asked.

"Unlike the Junk guild, I actually have to answer to the president and the Admiral." Ron said, "And both of them are perfectly happy with OMNI Enforcer and ZAFT surplus for the time being. We might be very similar to you, but we ARE a branch of the Colonial military."

"I highly advise that you get your own MS program running," Jaden said, "Most of the MS you have are older GAT-01 Strike Dagger's and ZGMF-1017 GiNN's… they're good, solid machines, but trust me, it won't be long until ZAFT and the EA start phasing theirs out of active duty in favor for more advanced mobile weapons."

"I'll get a corps together, but until the Admiral says go-" Ron perked up as he tapped the earpiece in his left ear. "Understood. We'll be there shortly." He lowered his hand, rolling his shoulders. "Admiral Adama wants us on _Galactica_. Our maiden voyage of the most badass ship in the universe."

"Well, what are we waiting for then?" Jaden asked with a smirk as he headed for the exit. "Let's get crack'n."

* * *

 **Armory 1**

* * *

The newest PLANT-type colony was nearing completion, and a number of ZAFT ships were currently massing near it, all of the _Nazca_ and _Laurasia_ -Classes. And most of them were Zala's loyalists. All of whom were pissed off at _Galactica_ and the Colonials.

"For 50 years, the Naturals have been trying to wipe us out!" One of the Loyalists onboard a _Nazca_ announced on the Comms. "For fifty long years, they have tried to kill us through murder, starvation and nuclear obliteration! And now, the Colonial Fleet is forcing us to pay for them blundering into a battlefield! NO MORE! Coordinators are the superior race. And now we're going to prove it! When we take the _Galactica_ , the world will know that it's the Coordinators that have inherited the Earth Sphere!"

The Commander grinned as he was greeted by multiple cheers on the Comms. "Get our ships moving." He said, "Let's teach the Colonials a lesson they won't soon forget!"

"Tutonic, _this is_ Yukon! _What the hell are you idiots DOING?! You know what Galactica did to us at Jachin Due!_ "

"We're taking over that battlestar! And we're going to make sure the whole fucking universe knows that Coordinators are the superior race for defeating a so-called 'superior' foe!" Most of the fleet began moving out, leaving only a small number of _Nazca_ and _Laurasia_ -Class ships behind as a picket. 38 ships were on the move, heading for the moon...and the battlestar Galactica.

* * *

 **Battlestar Galactica - 14:59 hours CST**

* * *

Members of the press were EVERYWHERE. CNN, Orb, BBC, and a dozen or so more that Jaden didn't recognize. This was a major event, as it wasn't every day a battlestar was back in service. Once he got to CIC, he found Ron looking at a chart, shaking his head once every few minutes. "Idiots. And they call themselves professionals." Ron said.

"Meh, at least they're not spouting BC propaganda." Jaden said, "This is an improvement if anything. So long as they don't try anything stupid, nothing will happen. By the way, your first shipment of mobile suits is on the way, should be docking with _Galactica_ in a few minutes. Try not to break my Raysta's."

"Wasn't talking about the press." Ron said, handed him a paper. "I was talking about the people that are calling themselves genetic engineers. Fraking idiots."

Jaden looked at the list "I suppose you're referring to the 3rd Generation Coordinator issue?" He asked.

"Colonial genetic engineering wasn't this bad." Ron said, "Well, it was about 6 centuries ago. but not anymore. I would know."

Jaden rose an eyebrow "What?"

"In your terms, kid, I'm a 10th Generation Coordinator." He said, "Reengineering a human was little more than a fad that came in and out of style until the War. I'm one of the last."

"Well, it's a hell lot more than a fad here..." Jaden muttered putting the notes down. "Its a way of life for ZAFT and a lot of other people in the earth sphere. Though as you know, we've got way too many people either lashing out against it, or are way too fanatic about it. Nations like Orb, Scandinavia and the EU are the only ones who have their heads on straight when it comes to this..."

"And us, if you think about it." The sound of beeping was heard from the DRADIS console sitting above the plotting table. "DRADIS contacts! Large number of ships, bearing 578 carom 048. Type and IFF..." Gaeta checked the screen at his post. "ZAFT, sir." Adama, happy to break away from the press and get back to his job, marched to his usual place at the plotting table. "Dee, contact the lead ship: ask for the reason they're here. Tell the plane and Mobile Suit CAGs to launch a flight, just in case."

"Copy that, Admiral," said Dee as she gave the signal, as four Vipers along with the same number of Mobile Suits launched from the now, refurbished, Starboard flight pod.

" _Galactica: Redington here. My Team's in position,"_ came Will's voice.

"Sir, lead ship isn't responding." More beeping came from Gaeta's post before the man turned back to the Admiral. "sir, picking up an energy buildup from the ZAFT ships! They're arming weapons!" Adama picked up the phone attached to the plotting table. "This is the Admiral! Action Stations! Set Condition One throughout the ship!" Alarms began going off before Adama gestured at the Marines. "Get those people out of CIC! We've got a battle to fight."

* * *

Before _Galactica_ noticed the incoming ZAFT vessels, inside the ship the new Junk Guild personnel had disembarked the transport as they unloaded the new mobile suits for the Colonials, as well as the supplies to keep them running. However while the Junk Guilders did this, they did not notice a small group of them leaving the others, and heading deeper inside _Galactica_. When the chaos began, everyone was more focused on what was going on the outside, than the inside.

"For once, Intel was correct..." the leader said, as they moved through the ship. "Coordinators can be so predictable… "

"We can't do this for long." One of the others said. "We go in, grab what we can, and get out."

"250's too heavily guarded. There's something in heavy lockup, and we're going to grab it." The strike team, of course, were OMNI Enforcer agents working for Blue Cosmos. Their job had been to infiltrate the Guild, and get on board one of the Colonial battlestars to get ANYTHING they could get their hands on. They made their way through the lightly guarded areas, finding storage room 1864, which was sealed only by a simple deadbolt.

"Too easy..," said the team leader as one of his men took out what seemed to be a blowtorch, and set it to where it was hot to melt a path through said deadbolt.

The door opened as soon as they cut through, and they were greeted with a sight they thought was impossible. A number of nearly intact Cylon Centurions. One or two were missing their heads, but one head was mostly intact. "Attack drones?"

"Cylon Centurions." One of the Commando's. " _Galactica_ was boarded last year, a squad of these bastards got on board. Nearly took the ship. I think Lord Djibril's going to be REAL happy, don't you?"

The Commando leader smirked "I think he will," he said, "These things brought the Colonials to their knees, now they will help _us_ do the same thing. Take the ones that look the most intact, box them in a crate and we'll bring them to the airlock. Once we get outside, the _Girty Lue_ will be waiting for us."

"Let's get moving, people! Colonial Marines are nasty bastards!"

* * *

" _Gorgon_ and _Helenas_ are maneuvering, bearing 361 carom 000! They're trying to box us in, sir!"

Adama's eyes scanned the DRADIS screen, quickly formulating a plan. "Helm, all ahead flank." He said, "Give me a 45-degree angle on the majority of the enemy ships and inform batteries Alpha through Juliet to switch to salvo fire." _Galactica_ charged forward, rolling to give all her guns a firing angle. "Fire at will!"

* * *

The Mobile Suits and strike craft were in the biggest furball in Colonial history since the Great Cylon Turkey Shoot. "WOO-HOO! Come on, fraktards! Let's dance!"

The Vipers unleashed hell with their KEW 20mm guns, aiming for weak points on the ZAFT machines, like the single eye camera. The Mobile Suits also played a part, as former EA 105 Daggers duked it out with the new GuAIZ, while the Strike Daggers dealt with the GiNNs and CGUES.

"Redington, Starbuck: you noticed that these assholes are just leading us away from Galactica?" The MS teams and Vipers were getting further and further from the battlestar, like they weren't doing this to destroy the ship.

Will looked around and noticed the same thing, before his eyes widened in alarm.

"Oh son of a BITCH! I've should've seen this coming!" he yelled out as he turned his 105 around and made a beeline back to the Galactica. "Galactica, Redington: I know this tactic! The EA used it before at Endymion and JOSH-A!"

"We're not going to make it back in time, kid!" Galactica's point-defense opened fire on a number of approaching shuttles, loaded with ground troops. But there were too many. "Galactica to all planes: Case Omega. Repeat, Case Omega." "Oh, frak. CLEAR THE AREA! BREAK! BREAK! BREAK!" A small slit on Galactica's dorsal side opened. Will's eyes widened as he saw what is was: nuclear missiles. The ones taken from the Doolittle, to be exact.

"Oh shit!" he yelled, "All MS Teams! Break away! BREAK AWAY!"

The Mobile Suits and Vipers immediately peeled away, just as the nukes began to fire away at the approaching boarding shuttles.

One nuke exploded less than a kilometer from Galactica, destroying the shuttles before the rest of the nukes flew towards the ZAFT fleet. They attempted to intercept, but they were screwed anyways: Galactica was proofed against radiation. They weren't.

"Once we clear the radiation zone, all planes are ordered to land. Radiation teams are moving out."

* * *

" _Now THERE is a fireworks show._ " One of the Commando's said, chuckling as they opened the airlock, heading out into space with their cargo. " _That'll teach ZAFT a lesson..._ "

"I'm just glad _they're_ the ones getting their asses kicked, not us." The Commander said, as they floated away from _Galactica_. "Good thing our suits are protected against Radiation… ETA to the _Lue_ in a few minutes. Once we're onboard with these things, we GTFO."

Static came over their radios before a voice came on via a heavily encrypted channel. "Girty Lue to Zeta Team: Report." "We've got the prize: two Cylon Centurions, one with a head unit that's 70 to 80% intact. We should be able to do something with these things." A dark chuckle was heard over the line. "VERY good. Lord Djibril will be more then pleased. We'll be there soon."

* * *

 **Battlestar** _ **Galactica**_

* * *

"Before you say a fraking WORD, Takeo, _Galactica_ couldn't hold off that many ships and their Mobile Suits while protecting the ship from boarding actions. I did what I had to do to protect my ship and crew."

"Your talking as if I was about to disagree with you." Jaden said, mildly surprising Ron and Adama. "Those guys were obviously Zala Radicals… I hold no sympathy for idiots."

Adama sighed before looking at Dee. "Get our planes back on board." He said, "We're heading back to Ptolemaeus crater. Major!"

"Sir!"

"Prep a raptor. I want you to head back to the Colonies." He said, "Recover more from that headquarters of yours. And bring Commander Takeo with you. I think the Junk guild could benefit from learning a thing or two from you."

"Looks like I'm going on a field trip," Jaden said with a small smirk. "Lead the way Ron."

Ron stood up, cricking his neck. "Let's get going. I'll see you on the hangar deck in about five minutes."

* * *

Raptor 314 was a new Mk IV raptor, mounting a dorsal and ventral-mounted turret with a 30mm auto cannon and what looked like a stubby 57mm beam cannon. Ron was sitting in the cockpit, dressed in his usual uniform, plus a tac vest, G36K/AG36, Five-seveN handgun, and ammo. When he heard thudding in the back, he chuckled. "What, brought that power armor of yours again?"

"It lets me rip the arms of Cylon Centurions off." Jaden said as he took his seat, "Why _wouldn't_ I want to bring this everywhere I go? Plus this is just the prototype - I've got a whole line of ideas for future variants for various assignments. Plus a cheaper, easier to mass produce version."

"I'll ask for production rights when you're ready." He closed the rear hatch before tapping his headset. "Galactica, Raptor 314: requesting permission to take off."

"Permission granted, Major. Safe flight." The Raptor exited the battlestar, flying away at flank speed away from _Galactica_. "I'll jump us into Kobol orbit, then we'll head for the Colonies. Spooling up."

"Let's do this thing..." Jaden said as he buckled up. "Hit it Chewie!"

"...wha?"

"Its from a movie… dude you need to catch up on Earth culture."

The Raptor jumped away, heading for Kobol. But it wouldn't arrive.

* * *

The craft reappeared in a nebular cloud, surrounded by debris. "Jump complete, but this ain't Kobol. LOT of DRADIS pings, though..."

"Where ARE we then…?" Jaden said, as he looked around. "Look at all of these ships, though… wait, some of the ships… they kinda look Colonial..."

"They look like First Cylon War era warships." Alarms began going off. "Oh, shit. Something's locked on. Activate those turrets!" Red bullets shot past the craft as Ron spun the craft around. "Frak! Automated attack drones!"

"Manning the gun!" Jaden shouted as he headed for rear of the Raptor to man the guns. "Let's get moving here!"

The Raptor began moving as the attack drones followed them, firing missiles and cannon rounds at the Colonial craft. "Frak, now I know why everyone hated me for designing those things. I'm going to try and use my authorization codes to get them to stand down!" The Raptor flew into a large carrier-type vessel, where Jaden fired the plasma stub cannon at one drone, turning it into a fireball.

"Got one!" Jaden shouted, "But we either need to Jump, you find a way to get those things to STOP IT!"

The drones suddenly broke off, leaving the Raptor in peace. "I had to use FIVE of my codes before they fraked off. This is an early war base. Fraking CCE back then needed to be shot. At least they aren't shooting at us anymore."

Jaden sighed, shaking his head. "Fucking hell..." he said, leaning back in the gunner seat. "So… any idea _which_ base this is?"

"Hmmm..." Ron said, as he thought about it. "This… _could_ be Delta Canopis… during the war, we used it to house our older, decommissioned ships… ones we thought were too easy for the Cylons to hack or destroy, or were simply too old… we had plans of coming back, retrofiting the ships to modern standards to combat Cylon tactics, but we lost a _lot_ of data during the war… including coordinates to bases like these."

"So… these ships _could_ be used again?" Jaden asked, as he smirked a bit. "Well… I think I know what the Junk Guild will be working on."

"Maybe." Ron said nodding as the Raptor began moving. "I'll dock us with the carrier. IFF IDs her as _Brimir_. Her FTL drives might be functional: we could mod them, get back to GENESIS Alpha. CCE and Junk guild can work on getting this base operational. I'll ask the Admiral if you kids can use some of the ships here."

* * *

 **Cyrannus System**

* * *

Cavil looked at the images he had obtained from the Cylons that fought over Tauron with narrowed. He was more than mad - he was _furious_. Not only had _Pegasus_ SOMEHOW show back up at Cyrannus, and left without a trace, they not only took another Battlestar with them… but he lost EIGHT Baseships and HUNDREDS of Raiders in that battle alone!

However, what truly made him angry… was the fact that it wasn't _Pegasus_ or that CCE ship that did it… no, it was that machine - that strange, Cylon-like machine that _slaughtered_ their forces, as if they were nothing. All within the span of a few minutes.

"Well, brother, we seem to be having problems within and without." Cavil looked at one of his fellow Ones that just entered the room.

"What?"

"Remember the Six and Eight? Ever since that failed bombing, they've been making inroads. The Twos have already sided with them. The Threes are converting. Their own models are simply...thinking about it."

"Oh, we already KNOW what they'll do." Cavil growled, "The Cylons should be focusing on wiping the humans out, not making peace!"

"Well then," the One said shrugging, "What do we do about this now?"

"Well, there's the...only option we have. Make it look like they had an accident, and when they download, box them and claim that their personalities didn't download." The Cavil smiled cruelly, snapping his fingers. "Pin it on the Resistance. _Pegasus_ couldn't get all of them off world and we, sadly, haven't killed them all."

"We had hope this works," the One said, "If this fails… we may soon find ourselves fighting more than just humans."

* * *

 **North Virginia, Atlantic Federation, earth**

* * *

"I take it the Charlemagne is having problems, Kehl. You wouldn't be calling it it weren't." The man on the screen sighed.

" _Indeed we are. It's the laminated armor. We've never made a ship using so much of it. Now the Charlemagne has five meters worth of it just to protect against beam attack, as well as those unholy KEWs the colonials are fond of. I need more money, Director._ "

Djibril sighed, but nodded. It was to be expected - Laminated armor was not cheap afterall. He _would_ have made it so the entire ship could be protected by a Lightwave Barrier like that of Artemis, but that was far too costly for a whole line of ships. Laminated Armor was the way to go for now. "You will have it, Augustus." He said, "Just make sure you remain on schedule - we cannot afford any major delays."

" _We're working on it._ " Augustus said, " _I heard that you got your hands on something from_ Galactica. _A pair of Cylon centurions, if I'm not mistaken. I could use an automated labor force._ "

Djibril chuckled as he sipped his wine. "I'm sure you would, as would many others." He said, "I'm planning on having them produced by Dassault for boarding purposes. They brought the Colonials to their knees before. They will bring the Coordinators to heel and the Colonials will be used to preserve our pure world."

" _Just send a few of those things our way,_ " Augustus said, " _It'd be nice to have a few workers I don't have to pay to get their jobs done._ "

And less money he'd have to send to Augustus. "I'll talk to the factory day, Director Kehl." The call ended before the screen indicated he had another call. From Bruno Azrael. He pushed a button, and Azrael appeared on the monitor. "Bruno, I just finished a message from Kehl. what is it?"

" _I heard you've captured several Cylon Centurions._ " Bruno said, " _If you could, I would like one of them sent to Actacon for R &D. One of our engineers has deviced a plan to use the basis behind a centurion to make a mobile suit-scaled Cylon. He's calling it the Mobile Doll._"

Once more, a very good point - why stop with engineers? An entire _mobile corps_ could be made from scratch, without wasting money on training and supporting living pilots. "You'll have it Bruno." He said, grinning. "Today is a good day for the Alliance."

" _True… though we_ should _tread carefully..._ " Bruno said, " _The Colonials made the mistake of allowing their Cylons free thought… we must ensure that we do not make the same mistakes they made, lest we have our_ own _Cylon War._ "

"Yes, it is a bad idea to give them sentience." Djibril said, "Experiment with the older models first. Well, having machines that pilot themselves is helpful, I still want actual human pilots. In case they...rebel. As soon as Dassault replicates that Centurion, the original will be sent to you. Thank you Bruno, the Alliance will soon be free of the scourge that is the Coordinator."

"for our blue and pure world, Director."

* * *

 **Colonial Carrier Brimir - Delta Canopis**

* * *

"For a century-old warship, this thing is as durable as Galactica. Then again, space has no air, and this entire SHIP is exposed to a vacuum."

"Good thing we brought our suits then," Jaden said as he and Ron walked through the interior of the vessel. "This ship looks like a flight pod from _Galactica_ if it had engines and a bridge attached to it. We could easily convert the hangar for mobile suit useage… alter a few weapons here and there, add new armor plating there..."

The massive carrier (by Terran standards) was one of the first of its' class, and still had a few squadrons of Vipers and Raptors on board. But Jaden had a point: the ship was more adaptable then Galactica to MS warfare. "Then we have our first MS supercarrier. Let's get that FTL drive back online. The Admiral's going to love having a carrier. Well, other then that pocket one i had built that killed my career."

Jaden blinked at that as he glanced at Ron. "What are you talking about?" He asked.

"The Battlestar _Busby_ practically broke in two a few decades ago after an FTL malfunction." Ron explained, "She was decommissioned and scrapped, but her port flight pod was for the most part intact… I decided to do an experiment. I sealed off one end of the pod, bolted some engines on it, gave it a basic CIC and defenses and used it as an independent ship. The CV-01 _Flimsie Whimsie_ they called it. The basic idea was to use it to ferry around Vipers from one place to another and not use up valuable resources. And it could easily double as a form of light carrier."

"That… sounds ingenious actually," Jaden said, "And it sure as hell sounds like something someone from the Junk Guild would do… but how did _that_ end your career?"

"The Admiralty were all about prestige. 'You dishonored the crew of that ship doing that instead of just rebuilding the fraking battlestar', said one Admiral." Ron said, rolling his eyes. "Fraking assholes nearly discharged me. Admiral Avalonia went to bat, kept my commission, with a price."

"That being?"

"To quote Admiral Hogan, 'You're stuck at Major until the end of time or the destruction of the colonies, whichever happens first'."

"Well… shows _him_ right, now doesn't it?" Jaden asked with a small smirk.

"He was nuked along with fleet headquarters." He said, "I just got used to it. I'm not bothering to object until we've got more people on the line." Both men arrived in CIC, which was just as dark as the rest of the ship. "Alright, I'll get the reactors online. Think you can handle the nav systems?"

"Got it," He said, as he headed to the Navigation console. "Not too much different from _Galactica_ thankfully. Let's light this baby up!"

Ron reached into the floor plating, checking if the cables were more or less intact. They were. "I'll make my way to the reactor core. I know you guys love zero-g, but I don't, and having to explain a broken bone as you floating is just going to be embarrassing." Ron left CIC, leaving Jaden to his lonesome as he worked on the DRADIS and NavCon systems.

* * *

 **Meanwhile - Orb Union**

 **Capital Building**

* * *

"You _want_ to help us?"

Cagalli sighed as she sat down, sitting across from her was none other than Adama once more. "Yes..." She said, "Your… story about the situation in the Colonies has gained much sympothy from the people here at Orb." She said, "Even I admit I wish to help… at first, Orb's ideals prevented us from doing anything… but Kisaka has given me an idea… have you ever heard of the French Foreign Legion?"

"Major Pinkerton has been doing some research, and I remember a Caprican military unit that went abroad before the Cylon War." Adama said, "Why? Planning on making your own legion?"

"More or less… though this is not for Orb." Cagalli said, "Essentially… If you were to create a Colonial Foreign Legion, I could have Volunteers from the Orb Military join your fight against the Cylons, and I could also loan to you some of our own _Izumo-_ class Battleships and Astray's as well for their useage and yours. Plus, you'd be able to recruit volunteers from ZAFT and the EA as well."

"I'll talk to President Roslin." He said, "The new date for the elections is tomorrow, though: she might not be president much longer. The last thing I want to do is shoot myself in the foot. If this goes through, I'll have Major Pinkerton go about installing FTL drives to those ships."

"Who's her opposition?" Cagalli asked, "I heard that it was her vice president, someone named… Baltar?"

"Gaius Baltar." Adama confirmed, "Bastard who developed the CNP. Major Pinkerton told me that the damn thing had been rewritten using Cylon code."

"He betrayed your people?" She asked shocked, "Then why-"

Adama shook his head. "If he betrayed us willingly, he'd be with the Cylons." He said, "He was tricked. And duplicity by stupidity isn't active treason."

"Let's cross our fingers that your people realize that as well," Cagalli said sighing, "I've heard things about this Baltar guy… I find Roslin to be _much_ more appealing than than _that_ asshole..."

"Amen to that. And most of the people seem to agree. Thank you for your time, Madam Representative. I'll be back in a few days with the President's decision. I'm hopeful that she'll agree."

* * *

 **Colonial carrier Brimir - Delta Canopis**

* * *

The lights suddenly came back on before the artificial gravity came online. " _Ha! All systems online! How's the FTL computer, kid?_ "

"Up and running along with DRADIS." Jaden reported, "I've updated the NAV computer with the coordinates to Earth and current star charts. We can jump back to Earth whenever your ready."

" _I hooked in the gravity gennies. Range boosted. Twist that key and get us back to Earth. The Admiral is going to love having an MS carrier._ "

Jaden smirked as the ship jumped away from Delta Canopis, jumping into range of GENESIS Alpha for stealth reasons.

"Activating Comms - don't want them to shoot at us." He said, "This is Jaden Takeo, Authorization Code Sierra, Beta, Zulu One-One-Seven Delta Three Zero Zero. We are onboard the vessel that has just appeared - don't panic guys."

" _Authorization confirmed. Where the hell did you get another Colonial ship? That thing looks ANCIENT compared to even_ Galactica!"

Ron ran onto the bridge, tapping the open mic. "Major Pinkerton here." He said, "This is a pre-Cylon War ship we recovered from a base in the Delta Canopis system. And I think you and Admiral Adama will be MORE then pleased to have this monster at your disposal, along with plenty more!"

Jaden chuckled, "We just made a jackpot, boys!" he said, "Get some teams together and onboard! Once we're done with this ship, we're heading back to get a whole shipyard of ships _begging_ to be retrofit!"

"And a shipyard begging to be used! THis makes my job a LOT easier! With a shipyard, a PROPER shipyard, I can begin refitting and repairing ships properly." The _Brimir_ began moving towards GENESIS Alpha, her masters more then pleased about the outcome of this mission.

* * *

 **Colonial One - December 27th, CE 71**

* * *

"A foreign legion?"

President Elect Laura Roslin hmmed at the thought. "Well. Why?"

"Representative Athha has expressed an interest in helping us reclaim the Colonies." Adama explained, as Roslin put it together fast for someone not truly skilled in the art of politics, let alone realpolitik. "But she knows she can't do anything directly." She said. "So, we open the door, she sends us help."

"I don't see why we shouldn't," Adama said shrugging, "Even with _Mercury's_ fleet, the Independent Battlestar Groups, and the CCE, we could use all the help we can get to retake the colonies. All I need is your approval."

"Fine. I'll clear it all with the Quorum, but you'll get that foreign legion." Roslin said, "I think I speak for everyone when we all want to go home. Earth might be our 13th colony, but it's not Cyrannus. It's not home. Talk to her, tell her that she can start looking for volunteers. Open it up to ZAFT and the Alliance, while you're at it."

Adama nodded before she spoke again. "She sees you as a father figure, you know." She said, smirking slightly, "You probably remind her of her father. A natural leader."

The Colonial Admiral paused for a moment. He had read up on Cagalli's father, and he would have to admit, the man reminded him a lot of himself. He would've loved to meet the man if he were still alive. He let out a small smirk "Well… I always wanted to have a daughter." He said.

"Speaking of daughters, that little girl that's been staying with you?"

"I know." He said, "She's the granddaughter of some AF official with ties to Blue Cosmos. He doesn't want her. Valerie will be staying with me."

Roslin let out a sigh. "Well, I'll have to get some sort of adoption thing going on," She said, "But yes, I'm not letting her go back to a group of racist bastards either. We hate the Cylons because they tried to kill us twice. They're a threat, a legitimate threat. The Coordinators? Sure, there's a bunch of idiots, but they aren't actively trying to destroy people."

The phone on her desk began ringing before she picked it up. "Yes?"

" _Madam President, this is Major Pinkerton. You are going to LOVE what me and Jaden have to say!_ "

"Oh? And what did you find?" Roslin asked.

Jaden's voice was on the line next. " _Try a whole fucking shipyard full of Pre-Cylon War-era Ships, and a WORKING shipyard to build more!_ "

Roslin paused. "Major, I have Admiral Adama with me." She said. "Should I hand over the phone?"

" _No ma'am. Put it on vox, it'll save time._ "

Roslin tried to find a button that would connect the transmission to the loudspeakers. Adama found it for her, pressing a button behind her desk on the bulkhead. "You're on, Major, go ahead."

" _Thanks, Bill. We misjumped on the way back to the Colonies, ended up at a base in Delta Canopis. big enough to supply ships up to a_ Mercury, _and they're FILLED with pre-war ships! Request permission to get them back online!_ "

Adama's eyes widened at that "Are you frakking me right now?" He asked.

" _No! We're serious!_ " Jaden said, " _There are like HUNDREDS of ships there! Me and the Junk Guild and CCE can work on refitting them to modern standards ASAP!_ "

Roslin facepalmed. "Major, you just made things more difficult."

"Uh, how, Madam President?"

"In a few days, I'm authorizing the formation of a Colonial foreign legion."

" _So...what's the problem?_ "

"We're going to have SHIPS in that legion." Roslin said, "Earth ships, that need FTL drives."

" _Not a problem, boss lady: we can use the new ships and the volunteers. We just need to...sell it. Now I see your point. Jaden, can you please you shoot me with my Five-seveN? I've been an idiot._ "

" _Wait, wait - we can solve this._ " Jaden said, " _We can_ loan _FTL drives to ships that join the Foreign Legion. We just need to ensure Colonial Engineers and security is present to keep them maintained, and secured. We could also loan some of these ships as well, we just need to ensure we maintain the same security of the Drives and other critical systems. If they leave the Legion, we just take the FTL drives out._ "

"I was planning on using the civilian FTL drives for that." Adama said. "The idea of a military complex full of Colonial warships is going to drive everyone here at Earth insane. They'll start thinking we're an invasion force, Commander. And I can't hold off two militaries that are actively gunning for us with Galactica and Pegasus. I might be good enough to hold off the Cylons for a long period of time, but I'm not THAT good."

" _Well, let's be honest here: We can't hide your new fleets,_ and _the shipyard here forever._ " Jaden said. " _They'll find out eventually._ "

"Then let's not bother." Roslin said with a sigh. "I'll hold a press conference, tell the people of earth that we found an abandoned Colonial base that is...well, intact, pending on your report, Major. Then I'll ask for aid by announcing the creation of the Foreign Legion. The ships at Jupiter remain hidden and secret, and we build up a fighting force to retake our worlds. What do you think of that, Commander Takeo?"

" _Sounds like a plan to me._ " Jaden said, " _We just need to assure them that this_ isn't _the start of an invasion force._ "

"Leave the assurances to me, Commander. Just get those ships on the line. We have a solar system to take back."

* * *

 **Armory One**

* * *

Shinn Asuka sighed as he settled in for his first day of training at the ZAFT military academy. He'd met a few friends, one Lunamaria Hawke and her sister Meyrin, the former of whom was talking about THE hot topic in the Earth Sphere.

The Battlestars _Galactica_ and _Pegasus_.

"...Its just so AWESOME!" Luna continued to rant, "It's even bigger than the _Gondwana_ that's being built! Its like-like the perfect warship anyone could ever come up with! It's like an unholy merge between a battleship and a Carrier! And _Pegasus_ has the ability to make more of those Vipers and Ammo ON THE FLY! How can you _not_ love these ships!"

Meyrin sighed, shaking her head "Sorry," she said to Shinn, "Luna's… well, she's fanatic about those ships."

"No, it's ok." Shinn said, "They're pretty badass."

"PRETTY badass?! They make everything here seem pokey!" She reached into her bag, producing a model...of _Galactica_. Perfectly painted, too: it was a perfect scale model of the ship as seen at Jachin Due. "The design of this ship is PERFECT! guns, missiles, point defense: this frame can handle it all and protect itself from EVERYTHING! Did you hear the rumor that _Galactica_ was improperly built?"

Shinn blinked. "Uh...no. Where'd you hear that?"

"Oh, some guy from the Junk guild was bitching about it. But it makes _Galactica_ even MORE badass!"

"...How so?"

"That ship kicked ZAFT _and_ the EA's asses while it was using _subpar_ materials!" Luna shouted, "And now I've heard they've completely rebuilt her! Beam Weapons! Laminated Armor! Reinforced Lunar Titanium! Some of the best technology the Earth Sphere has, merged with the best of Colonial ship design! Words cannot DESCRIBE how EPIC that is!"

"Hey!" One of the cadets waved at the group. "Colonials are putting out a press conference!"

Luna grabbed Shinn and her sister before rushing over to the screen, ignoring their protests as President Roslin stood in front of a podium with the emblem of the 12 Colonies on it. "President Roslin. You know, that Junk Guild guy said she was involved with Admiral Adama, too."

"...Sis, I didn't want to know that!"

" _Citizens of the Earth Sphere, and of the 12 Colonies._ " Roslin spoke, " _I have an important announcement to make. Major Ronald Pinkerton of the Colonial Fleet and Lieutenant Commander Jaden Takeo of the Junk Guild and ZAFT, while testing a new raptor, have discovered a shipyard once operated by the Colonials. Fully stocked and filled with ships._ "

This was met by silence from the others… minus Luna, who pumped both of her fists into the air. "YES!" She shouted, "FRAKING YES!"

"Don't you mean-"

"Its what the Colonials say, damnit!"

" _This shipyard - Delta Canopis - was once operated by the CCE, and most of the ships are Pre-Cylon War era._ " Roslin explained, " _Most of the ships are old, but the CCE and Junk Guild have begun a mission to retrofit these vessels to modern day standards. Firstly, we wish to assure the people of Earth that the discovery of this shipyard does not mean the precursor to an invasion. However this_ does _give us all a unique opportunity._ "

" _We are planning in the coming months, to return to the 12 Colonies we once called home, and attempt to find any additional survivors from the Cylon Holocaust, and bring them here. And eventually, this will lead to our first attempt to liberate the colonies from their control._ " She continued, " _Henceforth… I and Admiral Adama are commissioning the Colonial Foreign Legion, where volunteer citizens from across the Earth Sphere, be they either Orb, ZAFT, Earth Alliance or such, will be allowed to fight alongside the Colonials in our efforts to retake our homes, and defend not just the people of our Colonies… but to defend Earth and her colonies from the Cylons as well. Vessels from Delta Canopis will be made available to volunteers on loan, and donated vessels will also be equipped an FTL Drive_ on loan _of course._ "

Luna's expression was of a fangirl's dream come true. It was incredibly disturbing. Shinn was actually trying to get away. " _Details on recruitment will be passed down to your governments. Thank you for your time. May the Gods bless Earth and the 12 colonies._ "

"Sis? Are you ok?" Luna waved at an instructor. "Sir! Are we eligible for this?!" He shrugged. "You'd have to continue your training with the Colonials, but...yeah. I'll talk to the headmaster."

As he walked off, Shinn shook his head. "you're crazy. The Colonies are ZAFT's enemy!"

"No, the CYLONS are our enemy. The Colonials are just trying to keep themselves from being blown out of the sky. Besides, the second I SAW Galactica, I KNEW I wanted to serve on her!"

"But your training-"

"ITS GONNA BE EVEN BETTER!" She shouted out, "Not only might I have a chance to be _on Galactica_ , I might even be TRAINED ON HER! THIS IS THE BEST DAY EVER!"

* * *

Durandal's head made repeated contact with the table he sat at, much to the concern of the council. "Uh... Mr Chairman? Are you alright?"

"I've heard banging my head on something would help with the constant headaches I've been having for the past few months. I'm simply trying to see if it works." He sat back up, rubbing his head. "Now, what was this about?"

"The Foreign Legion, sir. We have two Colonial Raptors waiting just inside the defense perimeter, and we've been wondering whether or not to let them land."

Durandal groaned before he banged his head on the table once more. "I don't think we have much _choice_." He said, "The people just keep getting more and more sympathetic to their cause the more they talk about it… I just hope the EA leadership is getting a bigger headache than I am right now..."

* * *

Djibril read the warning labels on the Aspirin label before ignoring them and downing five pills and using the wine to wash them down. Not the wisest choice, as he was on the ground a few minutes later, in the middle of a heart attack.

* * *

Durandal let out an exasperated sigh. "Fine. Let them land. Let them set up their recruiting offices. I just hope this doesn't come back to bite us in the ass." Elisa Joule smirked. "It's the Colonial Fleet, Mr. Chairman. Anything that involves them ALWAYS bites us in the ass."

* * *

 **GENESIS Alpha - Colonial Carrier Brimir**

* * *

Ron stood before many Junk guild tech heads, smirking like their was no tomorrow. "Ok, kids." He said, "This is nothing like the ships you're used to. The _Brimir_ is twice the size of ANY existing Earth Sphere ship. Saggitarons knew how to make a nasty ship prior to unification, and this is the apex of their shipbuilding expertise prior to _Galactica_ and her sisters. Our job is to make her MS friendly and modern. Any questions?"

"Where do we start?" Someone from the crowd shouted, as the Junk Guilders all picked up their respective tools.

"Eager little knuckledraggers, aren't we?" Ron asked smirking, "Alright then." he clapped his hands together. "First thing's first: we need to strip out all the old equipment, fit in more modern stuff. New CIWS, launch systems, DEWs, the works. CCE boys can handle the FTL drive, but any volunteers who can keep their mouths shut are welcome to join in. I'll welcome any ideas on how to make this thing MS friendly, because this is just the beginning. Within the next three years, I want every _Brimir_ -Class carrier brought up to the same standard!"

"Yes sir!" The Guilders said, before they began to dispers into teams with the CCE, some getting into MAW-01 Mistral's, Raysta's and Works GiNN's to begin on the external modifications, and everyone else grabbed their gear an followed the CCE's instructions as they began the mods to the insides, working together like a well oiled machine.

"Couple of years, and we'll have need to build a new battlestar class." Jaden said, as Ron climbed down a ladder to get to his position.

"I haven't had any chance to get to work on new design work since the Fall." He said, "Keeping Commander Avalonia off my ass hasn't been easy."

"Actually..." Jadne said, before he pulled out a set of blueprints. "I've actually been working on that..."

Ron blinked "Come again?" He asked, as Jaden unraveled the blueprints, revealing a rough design for a ship which looked very much like a Battlestar.

"I've been working on this for a while now along with another ship for more Junk Guild useage." Jaden said, "It's still a rough draft, but I'm largely basing her off of an improved version of _Galactica_ and _Pegasus_. It'll take some more time to get things squared away in the designs, not to mention we'll have to put some resources away just for the construction of her. Still thinking of a name though… "

"Hmm..." Ron looked at the design. "Looks like you tried to guess the internals without knowing the ship. I think I can solve that. Let's get to my Raptor: I've got the blueprints for the Mercury-Class in there. We'll be able to work on the design. It'll also keep that woman away from me."

"Believe me, I've seen crazier than her." Jaden said, before his phone went off. "Oh, wait, hang on. Gotta answer this." He fliped up his phone and pulled it up. "Jaden here… Oh, good. So did you find anything... yeah… okay… wait, WHAT?!"

Ron blinked as he looked at Jaden, who looked like he had a distressed look. "What do you MEAN you can't find her?!" He shouted, "This is what I Fucking paid you for! She can't just vanish off the face of the earth sphere!... You're a goddamned investigator! Do the job I hired you for!" He slammed the phone shut and groaned. "Damnit… "

"Uhhhh..." Ron said, catching Jaden's attention. "Something… I can help with?"

Jaden sighed, shaking his head. "No… its a… bit of a problem." He said, "Few months ago a friend of me and my sister's just… vanished. No idea where she went, or anything… I hired a private investigator to try and track her down, but… no luck. Just doesn't make any sense..."

"She'll turn up." He said, "I'll put out a prayer for you. You might not believe, but I do. Maybe the gods will give you some grace, and she'll turn up. Right now, we've got a bit of work to do. Admiral Adama and the President want us to get this thing operational. We've already got a few volunteers for our little Legion from the Alliance and Orb. And we need a ship to carry them."

"Yeah… alright, let's get going." Jaden said, as they headed for the Raptors.

' _Meer, be safe… and_ please _don't be doing anything stupid..._ '

* * *

 **Armory One**

* * *

Shinn groaned as someone shook him. And he was SO close to falling asleep. "Shinn! Wake up!"

The red eyed coordinator glared at the intruder. Who happened to be Luna. "Luna. What the hell?"

"Come on! we got to go!"

Shinn sat up in his bed. "Oh, I forgot." He muttered, "We got class. And...didn't they set up a recruiting office for that Legion?"

"Yup! Signed all three of us up!" Luna said cheerfully, as Shinn blankly stared for a solid minute. Followed by a scream that could be heard through space.

"WHAT?!"

"You're welcome!" She said, her grin never leaving her face. "This is gonna be _so COOL!_ Going to a new planet, fighting Cylons, training with Colonials, being on BATTLESTARS! Its gonna be AWESOME!"

"You're insane."

"But it's an awesome insanity!"

* * *

Ron and JAden both sneezed as they looked over the blueprints for the _Mercury_. "Someone's thinking about us."

* * *

 **Battlestar Dreadnought** _ **Legacy**_ **\- Jupiter orbit**

* * *

The third largest warship that they knew to exist was also home to a large amount of training equipment, which was being loaded on Raptors for transfer to _Galactica_. And supervising the loading was Commander Nova Avalonia, normally commander of the medical ship _Acicleptus_. She was doing this for one reason. And he was probably on _Galactica_ right now. "Commander, supplies are loaded. Raptors are taking off."

"I'll take the last one myself." Nova said, "Surprise the Admiral."

"Ma'am, is that… wise?" The officer said, but Nova shrugged as she headed for her Raptor.

"Its just a supply run," she said, as she smirked slightly, "Besides… I'll find my Ronnie over there, I just know it!"

* * *

 **Ron the True Fan: ...Why is the Psycho theme playing in my head? It shouldn't be playing.**

 **117Jorn: The theme for Future Diary is playing in my head…**

 **Patriot-112: What are you guys talking about?**

 **117Jorn: You'll see… until next time…**

 **Ja Ne!**


	4. Chapter 3: Civil War

**AN: We don't own S**t.**

* * *

 **Chapter 4: Civil War**

* * *

 **Cylon-Occupied Caprica - January 31st, CE 72**

* * *

CAvil had been hoping that the Six called Caprica and Boomer would come to their senses. Instead, their movement had only gained MORE momentum, garnering the support of almost every one of the Twos, Sixes, Threes and Eights. Clearly, it took a more enlightened mind to deal with them. and one not shy of using high-explosives, as the first Cavil turned to another. "Are the charges set?"

"Yes." He said. "The Fives might be idiots for the most part, but they're competent enough to plant explosives. As soon as those two download, we box them, and blame the humans for the bombing. Then we get back to the genocide we shouldn't need to be doing."

"Good… let's get this over with." Cavil said with a sigh. "Then we can focus on the _real_ issues here..."

* * *

Caprica Six and Boomer walked down a staircase, on their way to a meeting with other members of their group in a cafe below the apartments they were using. "So, love, what do you think Cavil's up to? Just letting you and Boomer have your way?" Caprica tried to ignore the seeming hallucination of Gaius Baltar, dressed in a sharp suit. "You know something? I think you're enjoying thumbing your nose at that old bastard. Definitely deserves it, too."

Caprica paused before looking at him. "Look, I have to make sure this works." She whispered, "This cycle of death and hate HAS to end! Even if I never see the real Gaius ever again."

"You ok?" Caprica winced. She forgot about Boomer, who was staring at her as if she lost her mind. "I'm fine. Just...stressed."

"I know that feeling..." Boomer said with a sigh, "I hope this all works out… if the Cylons and humans can have some sense of peace… "

"You still upset about the whole… shooting Adama thing?" Caprica asked.

"...He was about to shake my hand..." she muttered, "After I blew up that baseship… after I saw the other Eights… I just… couldn't control myself, then..."

Boomer sighed, "I… know, Adama will probably never forgive me..." she said, "In fact… I expect he'll try to kill me if or when we meet again… and I guess he has every right too… I didn't just betray his trust, but the trust of _everyone_ from _Galactica_..."

"She betrayed the only people she's ever known and cared about..." Gaius whispered into Caprica's ear. "Then wakes up, surrounded by her enemies turned 'allies'. Almost like a never ending nightmare..."

Caprica was about to hiss for Gaius to be quiet… before there was a loud booming sound, followed by the whole building shaking, and rubble from above raining down upon them.

* * *

Outside, Cavil turned away from the destruction of the building. "Oops."

"Oops? I think 'BOOM!' is more appropriate, brother." The eldest of the Cavils shook his head. "No, oops is perfect. Not like anyone's going to know it was us, anyways. Let's get up to the Resurrection ship. We have two rebels to box, don't we?" The pair of ones walked off, slightly hurried as if they were actually concerned by an attack.

* * *

Boomer groaned as she woke up under tons of concrete and steel. "Ok, not the goop of a Resurrection tub, so that's a plus." She looked around, finding Caprica Six pinned under a chunk of concrete. "Frak, you better not be dead. Sticking around a dead body's not going to be fun." Caprica groaned as if to protest. "Ok, that's a good sign. How do you feel?" The Six looked at Boomer coldly. "Like a battlestar landed on me. Can you get this thing off me?"

Boomer groaned a bit as she moved toward the Number 6, and attempted to move the concrete chunk.

"Frak!" she cursed at the weight.

Caprica screamed as the weight was lifted off her legs, and Boomer dropped it as soon as it was clear of her body. "So, who the frak did this? The resistance?"

"No." Caprica dragged herself to the closest upright support. "They haven't done anything in weeks, not since Pegasus came back."

"So who..." Boomer began, before the pieces fell into place. "Cavil..."

"That's who I'd bet on..." Caprica said growling, "It makes sense… if we died here, he could've boxed us, make it look like the resistance did it, and our movement would lose support..."

"Well, he got fraked, didn't he?"

* * *

Cavil stared at two bodies: a Six and an Eight in a pair of Resurrection tanks. Neither were alive. And he was going to drive himself insane trying to will them to life. "16 Cylons died in that explosion." Cavil said, "And not ONE of them were those two idiots. So either the network is being awfully slow, or they're STILL ALIVE!"

The other Cavils were forced to agree. "Well, what do you recommend?" Another One said, "Nuking Caprica City again to finish the job?"

"Oh, sure! BRILLIANT! Just nuke a whole goddamn city!" Cavil shouted, "No one will question THAT! ANd it doesn't make us look suspicious at all!"

"...you know sarcasm is the lowest form of wit..."

"We need those two dealt with! The humans are the threat to everything we've built, and I refuse to let them survive one day longer than necessary."

"THAT we can universally agree on! But we fraked up big time not killing them, so we better find one hell of an excuse!"

* * *

Jackhammers were a welcome sound for the two trapped Cylons, both of whom were plotting revenge on Cavil for trying to kill them.

"We need to make sure we can prove - or at least convince everyone else - that Cavil was responsible for this." Boomer said, "But once we do… its gonna mean Civil War against the Cylons… and Cavil will have a huge advantage since the One's have control of the Resurrection Hub from what you told me..."

Caprica scoffed. "We have a better chance with the humans then with our own kind, so I hate to say it, but frak resurrection!"

"Oh, that's the right way to think, darling." Gaius let out a puff of smoke from his cigarette. "You don't want to be immortal. You want to die with your beloved Baltar. Pass away in bed from old age."

By the time that he said that, one of the fragments was moved by a Centurion, allowing light to shine in. A Two climbed down, followed by a Three. "God blessed you both. You survived."

"I don't think God had anything to do with anything." Caprica said, "And I don't think the humans did, either."

"What do you mean?" the Three asked, "Who would-"

"The Resistance hasn't attacked us for two weeks since _Pegasus_ showed up." She explained, "Why suddenly bomb us now? This wasn't the resistance's handiwork… this was Cavil trying to silence us… but we will _Not_ be silenced!"

The pair of Cylons scowled, right before they began helping Caprica out of the Cavil-made cavern, with boomer partly following. This was the last day of Cylon unity unless Cavil had a DAMN good reason for bombing them!

* * *

 **Armory One**

* * *

The _Thera Sita_ sat in the docking port, waiting for people to come on board. The first people in line were, of course, Lunamaria Hawke, her sister Meyrin and Shinn Asuka. The latter two looked like they were being dragged into something unwillingly by Luna. "I blame you for everything, sis."

"You'll be thanking me soon enough!" Luna said, as she was hopping from one foot to the other in excitement, waiting for the sign to board the Colonial vessel. "This is gonna be _awe-some_!"

The hatch to the ship opened, and a pair of colonial Marines stepped out. "Foreign Legion volunteers?"

"Yes, sir!"

"Alright, get your asses on board. And try not to puke."

"Corporal, someone ALWAYS pukes the first time."

"You never-" The Corporal began to say, before a red blur, soon joind by another red and a black blur, sped past them, as they looked inside and found Luna already sitting down and fastening her seatbelts, along with those for Shinn and Meyrin. The two looking annoyed at the other, as Luna was hopping in her seat.

"We are going to hurt you later." Meyrin muttered.

"I'll suffer later, I know." Luna beamed, "That's ok!" Other members of the Legion stepped on board, all Coordinators.

"So, joining up, too?" Luna and Shinn looked back at a girl already sitting behind them. "Who are you?"

"Julie Aaron. Atlantic Federation." She said, "I just want to show that we're not all Blue Cosmos-obsessed retards."

"Nice! Lunamaria Hawke, this is my sister Meyrin, and our friend Shinn Asuka!" Luna said grinning, "This is gonna be _so cool!_ "

"Another Galactimaniac, huh?"

"Buh?"

Julie smirked. "Oh, that's what they're calling it. Galactimania! Anything related to the Colonials, especially _Galactica_. So say we all, right?" Luna smirked as Shinn held his head. "Oh, god, not two of them." The PA pinged. "All hands, stand by." The hatch closed before the ship took off and flew off from Armory One. "FTLs are spinning up: stand by to jump!"

Luna and Julie smirked. "First FTL jump. Today is a good day!" Their vision distorted before the _Thera Sita_ jumped away, reappearing God knew where.

When the jump completed, Shinn and Meyrin were among the first of several to pull out their vomit bags. "Told ya - pay up." The Colonial said, as the Corporal grumbled as he handed him a few Cubits.

"Whoa… that felt cool..." Luna muttered, as Julie looked out the window, grinning.

"You think that's cool?" She asked, drawing Luna's attention as she pointed out the window. "Check it out."

Luna blinked as she looked out the window… and her eyes widened as she saw the word ' _GALACTICA_ ' pass by the window, as gently moving through space just outside their window, was the grand Battlestar herself in all of her glory. With Vipers and Raptors flying around her, along with several support ships.

Luna's squeal of joy was so loud, some of the Colonials thought it could be heard through space.

* * *

When the transport landed on the ship, it was quickly taken into the hangar. The hatch opened and Luna was the first one out, letting out a whoop of joy.

"Well, SOMEONE'S having fun." Luna turned to see a man in an orange jumpsuit, with a toolbelt. "Chief Tyrol. Welcome to _Galactica_."

Luna excitedly shook his hand. "Lunamaria Hawke, Colonial Foreign Legion!" She said, "It's an honor to meet you!"

Tyrol chuckled. "Yeah, Major Pinkerton's holding an orientation meeting in the pilot's ready room." He said, pointing in its general direction "Right over there."

One moment Luna was there, but when Tyrol blinked it was as if she vanished in a blur of speed past him. "Eager one." He said nodding.

* * *

Ron smiled as he downed a drink from a flask before a blur rushed into the room and sat down, revealing a girl with red hair. "Someone's eager. What's your name, little girl?"

"Lunamaria Hawke, sir! I'm a ZAFT cadet."

"Oh, so double the training for you, then." 78 other people entered the room, two actually groaning. "Welcome to _Galactica_. I'm Major Pinkerton. As you might've noticed from the papers you signed, today we begin a one-month training tour, followed by a mandatory three-month combat tour. Any further tours are voluntary. Any questions?"

"Sir! When do we begin, Sir?" Luna asked.

"VERY eager." He said, "No need for the first and last words out of your mouth to be 'sir', Ms. Hawke. Training and assignments will be based on ships: combat pilots and CIC operations will be based here on _Galactica_. Raptor ECOs and knuckledraggers will be on _Valkyrie_ and _Yashuman_. Volunteer Marine units will be based on _Pegasus_ for training. All of you will take basics in all areas, but that's about it unless you want to get more advanced training. As for placement, well, we've got a few simulators on board. Take an hour to get used to the ship. Dismissed."

Shinn groaned as the others began to leave "How the hell do I get out of this chickenshit outfit?" He asked.

* * *

Adama adjusted his glasses as he read the reports while Tigh openly ranted about them. "Those new fraking Legionaries are going to begin training here today!" The XO said, "Hope you people can handle the new rookies!"

Gaeta shrugged. "I could use the extra hands." He said, "So could Dualla and the Chief." Adama glanced at the pair. "CIC operations personnel will be trained here on _Galactica_." He said, "Same with pilots, Mr. Gaeta. Major Pinkerton will be handling the ECOs on _Yashuman_. Starbuck will handle the pilots. You and Dee get to deal with the CIC rooks." Both Dualla and Gaeta smirked. They looked forward to having new people to boss around as a small group entered CIC, led by a 14 year old redhead.

"Welcome aboard _Galactica_." Adama said, standing upright. "For those of you who've been living under a rock for the past year, I'm Admiral William Adama. Ron already gave you orientation, so I'll make this quick."

He gestured to Gaeta. "DRADIS operations will be handled by Lieutenant Felix Gaeta." He said, "Communications are taken care of by Specialist Dualla. As of this moment, you operate under them. Do your jobs. Once the month is out, we'll be launching a counterstrike against the Cylons to retake our worlds. I expect all of you to operate at your best. So say we all."

The group repeated the line, some more enthusiastic than others. "As you were." "Sir?" The redhead walked over to the plotting table. "Admiral, my name is Meyrin Hawke, and...well, my sister drafted me and someone else into joining this organization. I was wondering if-" "I'm sorry, Ms. Hawke, but the agreement is universal, whether or not you signed the paper or not. But next time, I'll make sure this never happens again."

Meyrin nodded at that, "Yes sir, I understand." she said, and went to her assigned post.

"Don't you think she's a little young, Bill?" Saul asked, "I mean, she's what, 16?"

"14, from the look." Adama said, "Unless you've forgotten, Saul, we're just as desperate as ZAFT. Maybe more. If I had to, I'd pull everyone I could and put a gun in their hand."

Saul sighed, but he knew Adama had a point - they needed all the help they could get after all. Didn't mean he had to _like_ it though.

"I want you to make sure everything doesn't fall apart while I'm gone."

"What, you're leaving?"

"I need to go spend some time with Valerie. She's been complaining that I'm not around as often as she'd like, and I promised her a day off." Tigh smiled ruefully. "That brat's got you wrapped around her little finger."

"Maybe, but I've always wanted a daughter."

* * *

 **Caprica orbit**

* * *

"War is coming." Cavil laid back in his chair, grumbling about the inevitable. "In all its' horror. And all its' glory. We failed to box those two idiots, and made their position stronger. So, what shall we do about it?"

As they had thought, their attempt to box Boomer and Caprica Six had failed in a colossal way, as not only did it fail - it had the exact _opposite_ effect to what they desired, as many more were siding with their faction, including entire baseships, Raider Wings and Centurion Battalions.

"Only one solution, brother." Another Cavil said, "War. We control the Hub; we can kill them and box them as on a base-by-case basis. We don't need to worry about ourselves, as, like I said, we control the hub."

"You do realize what you're suggesting?" A third Cavil asked, "We will lose hundreds of baseships! Thousands of Raiders and Centurions! This will set us back by DECADES! We're already behind schedule with the humans as it is; this war you're proposing-"

The standing Cavil sighed. "I'm not proposing." He said, "War is upon us, whether we want it or not. We just need to launch the first strike."

"We have to clear Carica of supporters of theirs first," Another Cavil said, "Once we take care of that, we can start clearing each planet here one by one of their supporters. But we still need to keep an eye out for the Colonials, and that… whatever the hell it was that slaughtered eight of our baseships."

"And maybe make some of our own. Too bad grandpa Pinkerton ain't around. He'd figure out those things in a heartbeat."

"Yes, too bad he was human and needed to die."

* * *

Crutches sucked. That was the only thought running through the mind of Caprica Six as she hobbled around using a pair of crutches. A three was resisting laughter, if barely. "Maybe we should make our baseships more wheelchair-friendly, Six."

"Maybe you should shut up, Three!" She entered the command center, where dozens of her sisters, Boomer and many other Eights, Twos and Threes were waiting.

"Glad you finally showed up," Boomer said with a small smirk.

"Crutches suck." she siad, "If it weren't for the fact that I'd be boxed, I'd download into a new body."

"We're ready." Boomer said, "Cavil's forces aren't moving, so we should be able to make the first strike, take off the head of the snake."

"This is crazy… but its the only way to even the odds.." the Three said. "Cavil would never expect us to attack the Hub of all things, let alone destroy it."

"Alright. I think all of us would rather be mortal anyways. I know I would." The baseship rocked from a missile impact, and Boomer began cursing in Aerilon. "Frak! Cavil just jumped in three baseships!" The basestars began firing at one another with missile salvoes, while Boomer attempted to get the Raiders moving even in a makeshift way. They weren't Viper pilots, and she wasn't Dualla.

"I'm spooling up the FTL: a few ships should meet us at the Hub to make sure Cavil loses the only real thing important to him!"

* * *

 **Battlestar Valkyrie - January 31st, CE 72**

* * *

"You've done well. Over the last month, you've all learned how to operate Colonial fighter craft, ECM, and CIC operations. Major Pinkerton has told me that you're ready to be thrown into the fire." Erica smirked at Ron, who was rather nervous: Nova Avalonia had tried to ambush him twice, and only through Jaden's timely interventions was he able to escape the woman's clutches.

Jaden had went out of his way to keep Ron out of Nova's grasp, thanks to a vast series of cameras, sensors and personnel that have been keeping an eye on her every last move. They had eyes and ears at every possible route she could take to get to Ron, no matter how unlikely they were. A move which Ron was eternally grateful to Jaden for, as he looked though his wrist computer, scanning through his security team's messages and camera feeds.

' _Gonna have to do something to thank him for this..._ ' Ron thought, before he turned his attention back to the volunteers. The collection of ZAFT, Orb, and EA crewmen stood before them, all wearing the Colonial Volunteer uniforms, all of them having come a surprisingly long way since they first boarded _Galactica_ , and in some cases looked much more eager working with he Colonials.

Though none were as excited as Lunamaria Hawke - who was a barrel of barely contained excitement standing at attention before them all. She had become quite the Viper _and_ MS pilot during her training. When she recieved her Callsign 'Habu', she nearly exploded into a fangirlish frenzy of happiness.

"Now, I know some of you want some well-deserved R&R, and I'd love to give it to you." Erica said, "But I can't. Operation Magician is underway: we will be returning to the Colonies in four hours! For some of you, this will be your first taste of actual combat. Remember your training, keep your heads about you. Major Pinkerton will be out there with you Viper jockeys, so try to impress him! Dismissed!"

The millisecond Erica said that, Luna whooped in a way that could probably be heard on _Galactica_. Standing beside her was Shinn, who stuck his pinkie into his ear.

"Trying to deafen me again, Luna?"

"Oh, come on, Shinn!" She shouted, "You placed as top gun in training! I'm just a step or two below!"

"And we STILL got our asses kicked by Captain Thrace and the Major." Shinn said,"I just don't want to lose anyone else."

Shinn had SERIOUSLY mellowed since being drafted by Luna. He had an almost uncle-nephew relationship with Chief Tyrol on _Galactica_ , Colonel Tigh had turned into the often-drunk-but-always-fun uncle figure, Admiral Adama had turned into the universal father figure for all the younger recruits that had no one left, and Luna... He couldn't see them as dating, so he saw her and Meyrin as his adopted sisters in a way.

The Foreign Legion hadn't been his choice...but it gave him a family again.

"Hey what do you expect from veterans?" Luna said, "They had been fighting the Cylons for a long time,"

"Hey, nuggets!" Both paused as Starbuck walked over with Julie, who would be joining them as a MK II Viper pilot. Both Shinn and Luna were put in the more advanced Mk VII, but the Natural girl could still keep up with them. "Lost her, did we?"

"No, Captain, I think she overslept. AGAIN."

"Not my fault. I was up all night dealing with my Viper."

Starbuck laughed as she pat her on the back. "Ok, nuggets, Commander Takeo's joining us on this little expedition because he and the Major are working on some fancy project. Major's commanding the regular birds, Takeo's de facto robot man. Just keep your heads together. I don't want to lose another rook. Clear?"

"Copasetic!" the recruits all shouted, making the Colonials blink.

"Great, my nuggets all have a hive mind."

* * *

Meanwhile, Ron was doing his damnedest to avoid Nova once more, while seeking out Jaden. "Godsdamn it, we've got 4 hours until we have to go, and he decides to take the nickel tour."

However, his communicator beeped, as he glanced seeing it was Jaden. He answered. "Jaden, where the hell-"

" _DUCK AND COVER!_ " Jaden shouted, and Ron complied immediately, as a blur flew right over where he was just standing, as Nova slammed against the wall of the ship. " _Move your ass to Section B-3 we labled out! I've got diversions planned and interference is ready! I'll meet you there, I have a Raptor ready! GOGOGO!_ "

"Son of a bitch!"

"RONNIE!" Ron ran as fast as his legs would permit, which, thanks to genetic engineering, was pretty damn fast. It also helped that he designed _Valkyrie_ and knew it inside and out, as he quickly made it to the section in question. "Ok, genius, NOW what?!"

" _Put on the gas mask._ " Jaden informed, causing Ron to blink as he saw a single Gas mask on a crate, before he began hearing a hissing sound, causing Ron to hurriedly put it on.

"Where did you get GAS?!" Ron shouted.

" _No time to explain - Head for the door on your left - the gas should disorientate her for a bit, giving you some breathing room. Just don't take that mask off till you reach the air lock!_ "

"AIR LOCK?!"

" _Do you want to escape Nova, or not?_ " Jaden shot back, " _Just move!_ "

"Oh, good thing Raptor Talon gave me a backup life support system!" He put the mask on his face, running through the halls of the battlestar while hearing Nova call to him, asking him to come back. It was almost enough for him to turn back.

Almost. He pitied her situation, he wasn't stupid.

As soon as he got to the airlock, he sealed it, making sure the deadbolt wouldn't let her in while he depressurized the airlock. "Ok, kid, now what?"

" _Now… this._ " Suddenly, the airlock flung open, as Ron was sucked out into space… where a Raptor was waiting with its door open, as Ron flew right inside as the door closed, and the Raptor sped away.

"Bingo!" Jaden said behind the controls as their Raptor sped away. "Activating Jump Drive, strap yourself in Ron!"

"Wait, since when did you learn how to-" Ron began to say, before the Raptor Jumped, and in a few moments it was flying next to the _Avenger_. "...you can plot FTL Coordinates now?"

"Just short range ones, but yes." The Junk Guilder said shrugging. "If its in the Earth Sphere, I can plot it. Anywhere outside… not so much. But I'm getting better at it. Told ya I was a fast learner."

"Well, it'll slow her down at least." Ron said, "She's heading back to LEgacy in about an hour: enough time to work on that new Mercury subtype. It's the first battlestar designed in the Earth Sphere, so...only fitting she has a Terran name. What do you think?"

"I… was actually considering _Polaris_." Jaden said shrugging, "Polaris is the brightest star in the Ursa Minor Constellation, and 50th brightest star in the night sky. Its also commonly called the North Star or Pole Star. Its the only thing _I_ can come up with… been working on several projects all at once lately. New transformable MS, a Junk Guild-built Battlestar, the retrofits to the _Brmir_ , as well as a new class of ship for the Junk Guild… been _very_ busy."

"You and me both. You have no idea how much of a pain in the ass it is to train 350 people, design a direct energy weapon and half a dozen other things at once. And a bit of a gift from the Admiral." He handed over a flash drive. "Blueprints to the first battlestar class we designed: the _Nova_. Bit of a failure: didn't pass the grade as well as Galactica. I've been thinking of revisiting it."

"Hmm..." Jaden said as he picked up the flash drive as the Raptor landed within the _Avenger's_ hangar. He plugged it into his computer as he went over the vessel. "Not bad… its smaller than _Galactica_ , but bigger than a _Valkyrie_ … gonna have to make a few modifications, but I think we can do something with this."

"Well, the Old Man's going to be happy: a new class of battlestar isn't a bad thing."

* * *

" _All hands, standby for jump._ "

Luna scoffed as she fixed her ZAFT-issue red flight helmet to her head. "Been ready for a while, Commander." She said as she jumped into the cockpit of her MK VII Viper, smiling as it was shoved into a launch tube.

" _Ok, kids, this is Golum,_ Valkyrie's CAG. _The Major had to run off, but he's on_ Yashuman _now, so the plan's still going forward._ " The rear hatch closed, and Luna was lowered into the launch tube, which was rather short, but could be reused rather quickly. " _As soon as we jump, we launch. No heroics: we want you coming back alive. Clear?_ "

" _Yes Sir!_ " The pilots all chanted, as they strapped themselves in within their respective Vipers.

"So, Luna, last one to 30 kills buys drinks on Cloud Nine when we get back?"

"We're a little underage, Julie."

"Ok, then, you'll just owe me until then." Luna smirked as she cricked her neck. "Standby. 3, 2, 1...jump!" Valkyrie disappeared in a flash, reappearing over Caprica, and all the Vipers were shot out of their tubes. The sight that greeted them...civil war among the machines.

" _WHOA, WHAT THE FRACK?!_ " One of the Colonial pilots shouted.

" _What the hell's going on out there?_ "

" _The Cylons are shooting at one another!_ " Shinn shouted, " _They haven't even noticed us yet! I've got Nukes, missiles and Raiders all over the place!_ "

Four baseships were pounding the living hell out of each other, and one was already beginning to break up. " _All players,_ Valkyrie: _engage targets of opportunity. Let's up these bastards kill themselves. Weapons free!_ "

"Copy that, Actual!" The Vipers began to speed toward the enemy, firing their 30mm cannons at any Raider that came into range. "Ok, here we go!" Luna opened fire, peppering a Raider with tracers before it exploded. "FRAK YES! First Cylon Kill! WOOHOO!"

" _Great shot Habu, but don't get cocky!_ " A Colonial pilot shouted, as he went chasing after another Raider as the battle really began kicking off, as Vipers began chasing down Raiders one by one.

One of the baseships exploded, caught in a nuclear fireball by a pair of missiles fired from another one. "We've got an accurate count, eight baseships, at least 30 sparrow squadrons, couple of turkeys, LOTS of nukes getting thrown around!" Three of the baseships jumped away, and all of the rest focused on the Colonials. "Oh, shit. Dominion, NOW would be a good time to use those Lohengrins!"

Anything else didn't need to be said, as the now Colonial battleship's primary weapon opened fire - as dual streaks of red energy burst out from the _Dominion's_ Lohengrins, and shot right into the first Baseship - easily cutting the star-shaped vessel in half in a spectacular explosion.

The antimatter stream finished the job, with secondary explosions caused by ordinance destroying the baseship, and leveling the odds. Julie's Viper chased down a Heavy Raider, clipping assault craft's engines before the CIWS on a _Nazca_ destroyed it outright. "That's my kill! My kill!" A Raider suddenly entered her sights, firing its' 30mm cannons, she dodged all but four rounds: three hit the Viper's port wing. One went into the cockpit. And Julie's shoulder. "FUCK!"

" _Julie!_ " Shinn shouted, his Viper moving next to hers. " _Julie, are you alright?_ "

" _No. Sorta light headed._ "

"Valkyrie, Orphan, request landing for a bent bird; medical teams stand by!"

"Wait one, Orphan-"

"Meyrin, we CAN'T wait one!" Shinn shouted.

" _This is_ Valkyrie _Actual: Get that Viper on the deck NOW!_ " Shinn nudged Julie's Viper, and the wounded girl heaved as she was guided to the port flight pod of her home ship. "Ok, you can do this, Julie."

" _I… I'm… having… trouble..._ " Julie muttered. " _Ever… everything...'s..._ "

"You CAN do this! Remember when the Major put us through low-oxygen training? you were the best one. Think about that, focus on that and not the pain or the blurriness." The 40-year old Viper approached the battlestar, and Julie honestly fought for control, blood loss being a bitch. But she blacked out, and the Viper's RCS thrusters fired as she leaned on the stick, landing on the port wing, which snapped and caused the Viper to roll onto the deck.

" _Valkyrie_ , Orphan: she's on the deck. But..."

" _Deck crews and medical teams are en route, Shinn. Get back in the fight: we'll take care of her._ "

Shinn nodded, despite not seeing the speaker. "Thanks, Meyrin." He said, as he spun his Viper back towards the battlefield. ' _Julie… please be alright..._ '

* * *

"What the FRACK is going on?!" Cavil shouted as the Baseship shook.

"Colonial Forces have arrived," Another One reported, "Its the Battlestar _Valkyrie_ , but she's got ships we've never seen along with it!"

Another impact, this time from one of the small green ships. "Jump us the hell out of here! And tell the rest of our forces to jump! We'll deal with them later!" A Four and two Fives relayed the commands to any surviving baseship in Cyrannus, which began jumping away.

* * *

"Colonial ships?"

" _Yashuman_ and _Valkyrie_ , plus a LOT of unknowns!"

Caprica Six was torn. Contact the humans and risk getting shot at, or jump away to try later? "Both battlestars are heading our way, same with the ship that blew one of Cavil's out of the sky!" Boomer warned.

"Ok. Tell everyone to jump." Caprica Six said, "Anywhere. We'll contact the humans when this is over."

"Hold on to something!" Boomer said, diving her hands into the control goo, and minutes later, the Baseship jumped out of Cyrannus.

* * *

 **Battlestar** _ **Valkyrie**_ **\- sickbay**

* * *

Meyrin, wearing the standard colonial navy blue uniform, winced as the doctors operated on Julie. She was a nice girl, and didn't judge them for being Coordinators.

How unfortunate that the only people that didn't were either rare, Coordinators themselves or Colonial. "How is she?"

Meyrin glanced back at Shinn, who had abandoned the fighter battle. He'd get court marshalled later, but he didn't care: his friend was more important.

"Docs said she lost a lot of blood." She said sighing, "But they're fixing her shoulder. she should be fine if people donate blood."

"What's her blood type?" Shinn asked. "If she needs if, I'll find it."

"O Positive." The Doctor said, "Universal blood donor. But we need to screen blood first: we're not sure about your peoples'-"

"OUR people? Are you...like those bastards in Blue Cosmos?"

The doctor glared at Shinn. "No, you idiot, I mean Terrans!" He said, "We've got plenty of donors. They just need to come forward. Now, if you're volunteering, that's fine. If not, leave."

"Fine - I will." Shinn said, "I've got O Positive blood."

"Alright, then get on the chair. I'll set up an IV.

* * *

 **Battlestar** _ **Yashuman**_ **\- + 4 hours, 57 minutes after beginning of Operation Magician**

* * *

The debris field was rather large, and almost entirely Cylon. One Heavy Raider badly damaged the _Alpine_ , a _Nazca_ -Class destroyer, but other then that, little damage. "We lost 64 people." Ron said, "37 pilots, 27 other personnel. We got lucky, didn't we, kid?"

"Luck had nothing to do with it," Jaden said, as he looked at the footage from the battle, watching as Cylon Baseships fired on one another. "Those ships were already firing at one another… It looks like there's some disagreements among the Cylons… though what it is, that much we don't know… but we need to find out."

Ron snorted. "Knowing the Cylons, they'll leave some sign of their disagreement." He said, poured a cup of ambrosia into a steel mug before handing it to Jaden. "My family were known for making the good stuff. Hell, our livers were the most enhanced part of our bodies for a century or two. Party animals, the lot of them. Here. To the liberation of Caprica."

"Yeah..." Jaden said, toasting to Ron before he sniffed the ambrosia. ' _Hell of a time to first try alcohol..._ ' He thought, as he saw Ron drown his whole mug. ' _Shit, if Ron's doing it… well, bottom's up._ ' He then raised his mug and drank it all down.

He began coughing as soon as he took in a breath. "Hey, kid, no need to down it all in one go!" He thumped Jaden's back a few times to stop the coughing. "It's your first time with ambrosia: savor it. In a few years, I'll have that vinyard on Tauron set back up again."

"Uhh… y-yeah..." Jaden said, his vision going strange. "Uhh...wha..."

Ron rose an eyebrow glancing at the engineer. "Are you-"

However, suddenly Jaden's Iris seemed to shrink in size, before he felt as if he were struck by a bolt of lightning giving him infinate energy. "FUCK DANGER IN ITS ASS!" He shouted, causing Ron and the others to jump in surprise, looking at him oddly.

"Jaden, what are you-" Ron began, but Jaden was not finished.

"YOU PEOPLE HAVE BABY SQUIRREL PENIS PROBLEMS, I'VE GOT ELEPHANT **** WORRIES!" He shouted.

"Okay, you need to control-"

"FUCK YOU I'M ALWAYS IN CONTROL!" Jaden shouted, before he ran out of the bridge. "LET'S LIGHT THIS BITCH, TALLY HO!"

Ron stared for a few seconds before looking at the bottle. He then shrugged and downed more of its; contents. "He's acting like everyone said I did when Tigh's wife stuck me with whatever the hell that shit was."

A woman with pink hair, not related to Lacus at all, placed her head on the plotting table and began sobbing. "WHY are there TWO of you?"

"Because you can never get enough of a good thing?"

* * *

 **Aprilius One**

* * *

Talia Gladys was not one to drink. But after all the shit that happened, she managed to find a bottle of Colonial ambrosia (which, apparently, was the Colonial version of absinthe) and get completely WASTED. She landed on her ass, slightly giggly as she turned on the TV. It was set, of course, to the news. " _-On a related subject, the Colonial Foreign Legion has sent their first detachment to the Colonies to liberate the homeworlds from the cylons. Caprica, capital of the 12 Colonies, is now being assaulted. A Raptor recently returned from Caprica and sent this footage to all news stations._ "

* * *

"We're recording?" The News Anchorman said, as he stood before the cameraman, with the battleground of Caprica behind him. "We are roughly two miles from the front lines here at Caprica! Colonial forces have attacked their space fleets with reportedly light casualties, and have begun landing on the Colonial homeworld!"

Behind the anchorman, several BuCUEs in Colonial colors marched by, firing their missiles towards the city as they moved out, as ZhuOOTs began moving in as well, providing artillery support as a wing of Vipers and Raptors flew overhead. "The Volunteer Legion is aiding in the ground assault of the city!" He continued, "Cylon forces within the city have been putting up fierce resistance!"

A Viper flew overhead, firing an AGM-14A Chromebasher missile, which hit what seemed to come straight from that old 20th Century movie about robots from the future, destroying it while a number of Raiders chased after it. One had the nameplate 'Lt. Lunamaria Hawke 'HABU', which downed a trio of them and force the other five to break off.

"We have been told that fighting will likely continue for several months, but the Cylon presence here has been greatly reduced!" He said. "Local commanders claim they hope to weed the Cylons off the planet within the next month before advancing to further planets! This is Richard Baker of ZANN - signing off!"

* * *

" _President Laura Roslin has stated in a press release three days ago that once the Colonies are secured, their people will begin moving their refugees back._ " The newswoman said, " _Some national groups on Earth have requested that refugees from Africa, the Middle East, Southeast Asia and even Europe to be sent to Caprica to relieve some population issues. Admiral Adama has stated that anyone who wishes to join the Colonials is free to do so, after a bacground check._ "

Talia scoffed drunkenly. "Fucking Colonials." She muttered, "They ruin everything. Blew up my damn ship!"

" _The Galactica herself will be visiting the PLANTs sometime this week on a goodwill tour of the earth Sphere, escorted by the Orb battleship_ Kusanagi. _Chairman Durandal had this to say._ "

" _I can only say that it will be a pleasure to finally meet both President Roslin and Admiral Adama._ " Gilbert said on the camera. " _I only hope we can improve our relations with the Colonials, and make up for our…_ mistakes _from the Battle of Jachin Due._ "

Talia downed a swig of ambrosia before everything became VERY blurry, before she passed out, snoring rather loudly with an open bottle of Colonial booze.

* * *

 **Battlestar** _ **Yashuman**_

* * *

Ron watched in amusement as Jaden moved drunkenly and began working on the new battlestar design they had coined the _Polaris_ -Class - while simultaneously working on the _Columbia II-_ class design, _and_ a new warship all together, all while blattering nonsense, and drawing up blueprints for weapons and equipment Ron had never even heard of.

"HavethefocusinglensamplifythepowerforthenewDEWgunsonthe _ColumbiaII_ toprovideextrafirepower,carryoverthedesignforthe _AvengerII_ .Updatereactortoadvancestatustosupportnewpoweroutput..." Jaden muttered quickly as he typed furiously into his computer in one hand, while drawing schematics with the other.

"Major, do you have ANY clue what he's saying?"

"Well, I think I can understand about a third. Anything else, you'd have to ask Ellen Tigh."

Colonel Bella Bartley, Yashuman XO, glanced at Ron. "Ellen Tigh?"

"Yeah, she's the one who stuck me with that drug cocktail that made me do what Jaden's doing 30 years ago."

Bella grabbed one of the phones in the room, ringing CIC. "Commander, can you please send a Raptor to pick up Colonel Tigh's wife?"

" _...Why?_ " the Commander asked.

"Apparently Commander Takeo is doing what Ron does when he gets on his drug cocktail." Bella said. "He's muttering all sorts of technobabble, and just earlier he was running around the ship screaming about having a nuclear-powered hoverbike...and a gun that shoots another gun with chainsaw bullets."

"...Oh, Gods, there's TWO of them! TWO OF THEM!"

"Sir, just get her here! She knows what the Major needs!" She hung up the phone, shaking her black-haired head. "Can you keep him-"

"Oh, sure, I know EXACTLY what to do." Ron said, "JADEN! STOP ACTING HYPER OR NO MORE BRAIN JUICE!"

"DON'T TELL ME WHAT TO DO!" Jaden shouted as he shot to his feet, "FIGHT THE POWAH! GAAAAAAHHH!" He then ran out of the room, and made a beeline towards one of the flight pods.

"Well, THAT backfired."

"Not really." Ron said shrugging, "I burned through it in 12 hours. In 18, he'll be on his ass, looking at the shit he just made and asking HOW he did it." Ron picked up the phone, setting it to PA. "This is Major Pinkerton, please make sure you stop Commander Takeo from doing something he'll regret. Non-lethal force, thank you." He hung up the phone, smirking at Bella. "Simple."

"you can be an IDIOT sometimes, Major."

* * *

"Alright, so any idea where he could be going now?" One of the Marines asked as they entered the hangar.

"He's gotta be around here somewhere," Another said, "Just keep your eyes-" However he was cut off as a Raptor was being raised up to the landing deck. "Wait, were we planning on any recon-" He then got a look at the pilot… it was Jaden, with a crazed insane look in his eyes. "Oh Son of a-"

" _YOU'LL NEVER TAKE ME ALIVE! AHAHAHAHAHAHA!_ " Jaden shouted on the comm, before the Raptor took off out of the Battlestar.

"The Major's going to kill us."

"Correction: he's going to kill YOU." The sergeant froze as he turned to see the other marine running away. "Oh, son of a monotheist whore!"

* * *

Jaden laughed insanely as the raptor left _Yashuman's_ pod, and he began spooling up the FTL drives. " _Jaden, I have a question for you._ "

"Heyo Ron! How'z it Goin?" Jaden asked, "How's the family, how's the kids?"

" _uh...you know for a fact that I'm not married._ " Ron said, " _I'd just like to know where you're going, that way, when you come out of it, we can pick you up. Not lose another FRAKING Raptor. Seriously we lose those things more then the Vipers!_ "

"Tis the pursuit for true happiness Ron!" Jaden shouted, "THE PEOPLE NEED ME! TALLY HO!" Jaden's Raptor proceeded to Jump, and once it was complete, he was several hundred thousand meters away… and was right in front of a damaged Baseship… which he proceeded to fly towards "Hehehe, Heyo everybody! I'm BAAAAACK!"

* * *

Ron was rubbing his head. "Was I THAT bad?"

Everyone in CIC was looking at him before they, simultaneously, said one word. "Yes."

"Well, frak."

"What's the worse that could happen, Major?"

"He could've jumped into a sun, Helios Alpha's pretty closeby, into the planet, inside a Cylon Baseship with many, MANY chrome-plated guns being pointed at him, or he jumped into the middle of the PLANTs and is currently attempting to seduce as many nubile women as possible." Bella rose an eyebrow. "What, same thing more or less happened to me."

"Is there… _any_ way we can track that Raptor?" Bella asked. "Did it happen to have a tracker on it or something?"

"Well, there's the transponder, but you know that unless the fraking thing jumped within our DRADIS range, we can't find it." He threw his hands into the air. "I'll just make DRADIS sweeps of Caprica and every planetary body in the system." "Do you know how long that will TAKE?" "Sooner I start, sooner I'm done."

* * *

 **Battlestar** _ **Galactica**_ **\- nearing Aprilius 1**

* * *

Back at the Earth Sphere, the great Colonial Battlestar made its approach on Aprilius 1 within the PLANT colonies, as a Raptor launched from _Galactica_ , heading for the colony due to the fact they had yet to make a dock compatible with _Galactica's_ own airlocks.

Or a docking bay BIG enough. It was like the Olympic and Titanic back in the 20th Century: TOO DAMN BIG.

"So, Madam President, feeling diplomatic?"

Roslin smiled back at Adama. "Yes, I feel like talking to the people that, accidently, murdered almost 8500 Colonial citizens." She said, "I know it wasn't their fault. We jumped into the middle of their battle. But you'd think they'd stop to go 'what the frak is going on?' before they started shooting."

"They panicked," Adama said sighing, "It's difficult, but we can't hold a grudge against them forever. Plus, let's be honest - ever since we found Earth, things have been looking up for _all_ of us. We lost 8,500 people… but look at how many we've gained. We went from just 45,000, up to nearly _twenty million_ with the CCE, _Mercury_ and the Battlestar Groups."

"I know. I just get the feeling that ZAFT means trouble in some form or another. And that Durandal man makes me feel...bad."

"You're telling me."

* * *

"You're late, Talia."

Talia Gladys sighed, attempting to hide the unmistakable sign of booze with coffee, breath mints and a number of oral hygiene products. "Sorry, Mr. chairman, but I WAS completely off my rocker." She said.

"You got your hands on _absinthe_?"

"Ambrosia. More or less the same thing."

Durandal sighed, shaking his head "Let's hope the Colonials don't notice it." He said, "We can't' afford any more incidents with them. You may find this hard Talia, but please bear with it."

"Adama BLEW UP MY SHIP! How am I SUPPOSED to react?!" "Like a reasonable human being. Adama's not bragging about it; he apologized for the damages to ZAFT. Though I get the feeling he does NOT regret a damn thing."

The airlock dinged as they heard a soft BANG. "Gentlemen, theme please."

 **BGM: Original Battlestar Galactica opening theme**

The Colonial national anthem began to play, as the airlock doors opened, allowing Roslin and Adama entry, along with their group of Colonial Marine guards.

"Well, that was a nice touch." Roslin muttered.

"President Roslin, Admiral Adama, welcome to Aprilius One." Durandal said. Adama stepped out of the Raptor, extending his hand to shake Durandal's. "My pleasure."

"It is an honor to have you both here." Durandal said, before gesturing to Talia. "This is Talia Gladys. you met her at the...debacle at Jachin Due."

Talia narrowed her eyes, in a sort of angry pout. "You blew up my ship." She growled.

Adama blinked before he looked at her. "Which ship was it?" He asked.

"The Ulysses." She growled. "You fired a full broadside INTO MY SHIP. You're damned lucky you didn't kill anyone."

"And I don't need to remind you that Galactica's outfitted with a full payload of nukes that have N-jammer cancelers." Adama retorted, "Let's be civil. Our battle ended at Jachin due; don't start it up again by doing something you will regret."

Talia growled, but bit her tongue before she said something stupid.

"Anyways..." Durandal said, "I hope that we will be able to put aside our past grievances, and work together to see a better future, and defend our peoples from the Cylons should they return in force."

"Mr. Chairman, your people killed 8500 of mine, accident or not. I'm feeling a little resentful. But I'm here under the flag of peace to talk about that future. That should tell you how much we care about this. Please, lead the way."

Durandal nodded, smiling as he was followed by Talia. "Why do I get the feeling that I should've shot him in the head?"

"The question is, Bill, why do I get the feeling _we_ both should've shot him in the head?"

* * *

 **Meanwhile, with our now-sober Junk guild member...**

* * *

The first thing Jaden notices was a massive pain within his throbbing head, causing him to groan as he massaged his forehead. ' _Fuck… shit..._ ' he thought, ' _What the HELL happened..._ '

He could feel he was around some sort of mess of pillows he assumed, as he moved his head as one of the pillows… moaned…' _Wait..._ ' he thought, before he cracked his eyes opened, blinded by the light for a few minutes before his vision focused as he glanced around...

...his face reddened as he saw he was _surrounded_ by well over a dozen women, many of whom looked identical to the other. He then recognized each of them as human Cylons, specifically Threes, Sixes, and Eights. None of them wearing any clothes, sleeping contently, and he soon realized he too was wearing nothing. Two three's were clinging to his arms, a six was on top of him, and his head was resting against an eight's breasts.

' _What… the fuck… happened..._ ' Jaden thought, looking around all of the naked beautiful women, trying to figure out how he got _into_ this mess, and how the hell he was gonna get out _alive_. Though another part of him was punching himself for forgetting whatever happened last night, and how to do it again.

A hand grabbed his leg, and he saw a Six with honey-blonde hair looking up at him. "Oh, you woke up. You wore us down to the bone."

Jaden's face could be compared to a red giant. "Uh, what happened? I don't exactly remember."

"Ah, right - you did look a bit… drunk." The Six said smirking, "Well… to catch you up to speed, your Raptor arrived at our Baseship… it was damaged during the fight, and we were the only surviving crew… all the Centurions were offline, communications are dead, and all the ones, two's, fours and fives were killed. You landed, promised to get help from the Colonials, and we'd agree to help you fight Cavil's faction… and well… proceeded to win the hearts of all of surviving sixes, threes and eights onboard, and after a crazy and _very_ kinky night… here we are. Gods your _amazing_ when you're drunk."

"We're gonna have to do that again," One of the eights said, beginning to wake up as she grinned slightly. "I'd swear off resurrection _forever_ to have a night like that again..."

"Same." A Three said sighing. "I wonder how many of us might actually get… knocked up?"

"Buhhhhhhhhhhhh..." Jaden said, as he had a blank expresion on his face, causing the awake Cylons to blink.

"I think we broke him." THe six said, as the three and eight giggled.

An alarm began going off inside the baseship, and Jaden facepalmed. either that was more Cylons or... "WHAT THE FRAK?!"

"How the hell did he get here?" A Three asked. "You can't jump inside a baseship."

An Eight and a Six glared at the Three. "This is Grampa Pinkerton we're talking about." The eight said, "He can jump inside a six-by-six square if he had an accurate enough FTL drive. A baseship is EASY for him."

The Three blinked before she nodded "Yeah, you got a point." She said, "So… what do we do?"

Before anyone could answer, the doors to their room opened up, as Ronald Pinkerton appeared. "Alright Jaden, hope you… sobered..." He began to say, before he saw Jaden and all of the women surrounding him in bed.

"Well, I see you seduced several of my grandchildren while you were out of your mind." He said, "Hello, ladies. Sorry, but I need to take your...new friend back home."

Jaden got the feeling Ron was playing disapproving grandparent. And it was working: Jaden felt unnerved.

"Awww..." One of the eights moaned, grabbing Jaden from behind. "Can we keep him Grandpa Pinkerton, _plleeeeeeaassseeee?_ " And almost in perfect sync, all of the women gave their best version of the infamous 'Puppy Eyes' technique, complete with twitching lips.

Ron was HIGHLY resistant to this. Resistant being the key word: immunity is not exactly possible for someone who really cares about others. "We need to repair your baseship's FTL drive, anyways." Ron said, "When I get back, I expect him dressed. And not smelling like he had an orgy."

All of the women groaned in disappointment, while Jaden sighed in relief. "Yes, Grandpa..." they all said at once, sounding depressed.

Jaden sighed as Ron began to walk off. But before he could say anything, he paused for a moment. "It'll probably take me, say… two hours at most to fix them, and get us back to the fleet." He said, glancing back. "Like I said… just make sure he's ready by then."

He then walked off, as all of the women grinned hungrily at Jaden, who gulped. ' _This will be either very painful… or very pleasurable..._ ' he thought. ' _Oh well… YOLO!_ '

* * *

 **Battlestar** _ **Galactica**_

* * *

Colonel Saul Tigh glared at the DRADIS screen hanging above the plotting table. It, somehow, glared back. "Sir, I don't understand why our nuclear weapons are armed." Gaeta said. "It's not like we're going to use them."

"If we lose contact with the wireless transmitters the President or the Old Man have on them without warning, we're in open war with the PLANTs." He said, "That means we need to nuke every military asset here." He looked at Gaeta. "Don't think I LIKE the idea of nuking civilian targets. I want you to limit the rad damage when we use those things on those cruisers hanging to port. Our lend-lease Mobile Suits suck, so the nukes are our only line of defense!"

"Pretty sure after what we did at Jachin Due, ZAFT isn't stupid enough to attack us." Gaeta said.

"The idiots from two months ago were ZAFT." Saul said, "Faction or not, they were ZAFT and they attacked this ship. so if they arm weapons or we lose contact, open those doors and fire. And pray to the gods we don't kill anyone we don't have to."

"After showing how willing we are _to_ use nukes, I doubt anyone would want to attack us when we're so close to the PLANT's." Dualla said.

"Let's hope so." Saul said, as he continued to have his staring contest with the DRADIS screen.

He snarled as he broke contact, the DRADIS SOMEHOW looking awfully smug. "One of these days..." "Sir? Are you-" "Just. Fine."

* * *

Adama was impressed with the inside of the colony. "Aren't you worried that someone's just going to gas you, and drop the colony on Earth?" He asked.

"We have precautions for such an attack," Durandal said, "The designer for the PLANT's devised methods to prevent such gassing from happening. And as for the colony drop… well, we have specially designed groundbreakers which can break up colonies if they _were_ going to crash to the earth, allowing us to mitigate the damage dealt to earth."

"We gave up on orbital colonies after the war. The Cylons kept killing everyone in them, then dropping them on the Colonies. It took decades to fix all the damage." Caprica was one of the hardest hit of the 12 Colonies: 29 colony cylinders were dropped on the planet, causing enough damage to turn most of Caprica into a wasteland that took the efforts of all 12 worlds to recover from. Granted, EVERY colony suffered from no fewer then 15 colony drops, but the Cylons had a particular loathing for Caprica.

"Why ARE your worlds called 'the 12 Colonies', anyways?" Roslin looked at Talia, who was still more then a little miffed at being within a few meters of the main reason ZAFT was short over 40 ships, GENESIS or not.

"They're called the 12 Colonies because that's where we settled after the exodus from Kobol 10000 years ago." She said, "Areilon, Aquaria, Canceron, Caprica, Gemini, Leonis, Libran, Picon, Sagittarion, Scorpia, Tauron, and Virgon. After the calamity which struck Kobol, the twelve tribes of humanity left, and found the Cyrannus System, while the thirteenth Tribe - yours - found Earth."

Talia scoffed "I call bullshit," She said, "Humanity clearly evolved on Earth, we've got history spanning _millions_ of years ago with dozens of civilizations - and you expect us to believe we're all from some mythical alien planet?"

"We have proof. Six months ago, we found Kobol. And while the scriptures are religious in nature, every myth has a basis in fact."

Talia smirked. "Then I want to see it." She said, "Retrofit a few of our ships with FTL drives, and we'll go to Kobol."

"Then get ready to lose people." Adama said, "Any return back to that world has a cost in blood. And a day after we found it, I was shot. Twice."

Before Talia could continue, Durandal cut them off. "Please, let's not get to deep into this." He said, "It would be interesting to visit your original homeworld, but for now I believe we must all agree we have much more pressing matters."

"Yes, we do. But when we are finally safe from the Cylons, a trip to Kobol can be arranged, Captain Gladys." Talia glared at Adama in challenge. "I look forward to it." Talia Gladys was then the first person to suffer the almighty wrath of the Adama Glare. she flinched after a few seconds of the sight.

* * *

 **Cylon Basestar**

* * *

Ron was busy giggling like a madman as he walked back toward the room Jaden and his...makeshift harem were last in. "Ladies, if he's not dressed by the time I reach the end of this corridor, I'm not going to be pleased!"

As he approached the room, the doors opened up as Jaden - now fully clothed - stepped out, along with all of the Cylon women, who were all giggling and/or blushing. "Don't be a stranger..." An Eight said, before giving Jaden a firm kiss on the lips. "We'll be in the hangar."

The Cylons left, as Jaden let out a sigh. "Ho-ly shit..." he muttered, leaning against the wall.

"Congratulations, you out-Heloed Helo! He bedded one Eight, you bedded around a dozen! Or more. Don't care about exact numbers." He loaded a round into his AG36 launcher. "You head down to the Raptor, I will deal with the second biggest pain in the ass I've had since Cain."

"Right… I'll… take them back to GENESIS Alpha." Jaden said, "Should be safe there… and what pain is that?"

"That would be the Hybrid." Ron said, "I talked to the one on the Guardian baseship for fifteen minutes before I just screamed as loud as I could and fired a grenade at it. And from what one of the few Cylons you DIDN'T bed told me, they can be rather unpredictable. So, I disconnected it from the main controls and now I'm going to kill it."

"Right… you do that." Jaden said as he headed for the hangar. "Geez… Amy's never gonna let this up…"

* * *

 **GENESIS Alpha**

* * *

Pegasus was enroute to the base, ready to pick up supplies Orb had requested for the new Colonial assault carrier, which they had named _Amaterasu_. Cagalli beat Morgenrote upside the head many times for not letting the Colonials name their own ship, but Lee had informed them that Amaterasu was one of the Lords of Kobol: a solar one, alongside Apollo, Sol and Ra.

"GENESIS Alpha, Pegasus: ready to receive supply shipment."

" _Copy,_ Pegasus: _shuttles are en route-_ " At that moment however, a Cylon Baseship appeared from out of nowhere. " _OH SHIT!_ "

"DRADIS! CYLON BASESHIP!" Hoshi shouted.

"SET CONDITION ONE!" Lee shouted, "GET EVERYTHING WE'VE GOT-"

" _WAIT! WAIT! HOLD YOUR FIRE!_ " A familiar voice suddenly said on the Comms. " _Don't shoot the baseship! Jaden Takeo here - this is ours! Don't fire!_ "

A cough followed Jaden's voice before they heard the voice of Major Pinkerton. "Pegasus, _Psycho: authentication code Gamma, Omega, Theta, Two, Five, Zeta. Weapons hold: Jaden and I have control of the baseship!_ "

Lee's jaw dropped. "Uh...Psycho, Actual: how the frak did you capture a Cylon baseship?" He asked.

" _Actually, I just made sure we won't lose it._ " Ron said, " _Jaden captured it!_ "

"By _himself_?!" Lee asked, "How the hell did he do that?"

Ron chuckled a bit, as Jaden mumbled something, and Lee could swear he heard a lot of feminin giggles in the background. " _Well, I'll give it to ya straight._ " Ron said, " _He outscored Helo BIG TIME._ "

Lee planted his head on the plotting table while his new XO grabbed the phone. "Major, this is Major Kendra Shaw, Pegasus XO. Tell that toaster fraking friend of yours to get on a Raptor. The Admiral is going to want an explanation for this."

"Copy, XO. Baseship actual out."

Shaw hung up her phone and Lee's before shaking her head. "Fraking toaster lovers." She muttered. "One freakshow was enough; now we're gonna have dozens."

"You better _pray_ Ron doesn't hear you say that." Hoshi said, "I heard he considers the Humanoid models his Grandkids."

Shaw scoffed. She was Cain's protoge, Ron was just a washed up old man who just so happened to be very good at making things for the Fleet. "He made the toasters that rebelled, Lieutenant, so-"

"That's enough, Major." Lee straightened himself out. "Major Pinkerton is a member of the CCE, and without those restrictions on his status placed by the Admiralty, he;s getting promoted in a few weeks. So show the man the fraking respect he deserves. Clear?"

Shaw groaned, but nodded "Crystal, sir." She said.

* * *

 **Ron the True Fan: Ah, Shaw. You're a bitch, but you're Cain's bitch. And for the readers, allow me to introduce to you AstralXYZ's gift to the** _ **To Hell and Back**_ **series: The** _**Amaterasu**_ **-Class assault carrier! Specs will not be shown here JUST yet.**

 **117Jorn: He does all sorts of awesome 3D modeling stuff, and made plenty of things for Dragonknightryu and Takeshi Yamato in the past. Check him out :D**

 **Patriot-112: And now the Cylon Civil War begins...**

 **Ron the True Fan: Enjoy the fic, direct your complaints verbally. don't want to hear how much we suck.**

 **Ja Ne!**


	5. Chapter 4: Not so Different After All

**AN: We don't own S**t.**

* * *

 **Chapter 5: Not so Different After all**

* * *

Galactica had just arrived at GENESIS Alpha after executing a jump, and the first thing Tigh did was order action stations. After all, there was a fraking BASESHIP 10 LSU from Pegasus.

"Colonel, the baseship isn't hostile. Even if they were, Pegasus would have destroyed it already with help from the Junk guild." Adama picked up the handset before the PA pinged. "Action Stations, stand down to Condition Three. Dee, get that thing on the horn."

It didn't take long before he got an answer. " _This is the Junk Guild Baseship_ Avalon," The voice of Ronald Pinkerton was heard, " _We're receiving ya Bill._."

Adama blinked as he adjusted his glasses. "What?"

" _They shipped over a quantum computer about an hour ago and hooked it up._ " He said, " _Plus Jaden out-Tighed Ellen, capturing this thing in the process_." Tigh, who was listening in, groaned and facepalmed at the mention of his wife's...activities.

"You DO realize that I can't trust them with that baseship." Adama said. "Colonial FTL technology's bad enough, Ron; Cylon FTLs are more advanced!"

" _I KNOW, sir. I'm making sure-HEY! I'm on the horn with the-GIVE ME THAT!_ " A smack was heard before Adama spoke again. "Major?"

" _Takeo here._ " Jaden's voice replaced Ron's. " _Yeah, we captured the baseship, and we're in the process of figuring out how these things tick - we already took care of the Hybrid, and the Humanoid Cylons that survived are being exceptionally helpful - they've agreed to help us work on this ship, as well as give us detailed information on how the Cylons are operating now, in exchange for asylum in the Junk Guild - same deal we gave Athena. They've already given us a wealth of information in exchange for… umm…_ things _which I should not speak on the Comm about..._ "

Adama could hear Ron say something in the background saying something about 'Heloing them', followed by another smacking sound. " _SHUT UP RON!_ " He shouted. " _Anyways… yeah… so… we've got a modern Baseship_ plus _the Guardian one… oh yeah, and the Cylons are in the middle of a Civil War._ "

The first reaction was little more then silence. Then Tigh began laughing that laugh of his. "Moron's going to pay for that with his livelihood."

"Commander, if the Cylons are shooting at one another, why the hell is it starting now?" Adama asked.

" _They seem to be divided between two factions: One wanting to continue their genocide against Humanity, while the other is seeking peace with humanity. The pro-war faction is lead by the Humanoid Cylon models One, Four, and Five, while the pro-peace faction is lead by the Two's, Threes, Sixes and Eights. The Pro-Peace faction is being commanded by a Six named Caprica Six, and an Eight named… Boomer?_ "

Tigh glanced up before backing away from the Old Man.

("You performed your mission to the best of your ability, despite any personal misgivings you may or may not have had. For that, I'm very proud of you.")

Adama clenched the phone, squeezing it to almost the point of breaking.

("Thank you, sir." Adama's hand stretched out, but a sharp pain made him stumble back. It was only at that point that he realized he had been shot.)

"Boomer. The same one that SHOT me. That Boomer?"

" _Uhhh… probably?_ " Jaden said, " _They said she was from your fleet, and she's been fighting to end their pursuit of you guys for a while now. Now they're apparently planning to destroy something called a Resurrection Hub._ "

Adama put his outright loathing of boomer aside for a second. "A few months ago, we destroyed something called a Resurrection ship." Adama said, "It let the Cylons download into new bodies. We weren't attacked by the Cylons for months afterwards."

" _Then it's possible that the ships are just mobile servers: the Hub is what gives them effective immortality._ " Ron's voice came back, causing Adama to paused for a second.

"Major, when did you get the mic back?"

"I didn't: I'm using my personal earpiece because SOMEONE won't give me the phone!" Dualla was holding back giggles. So were anyone else but Adama listening: he was more focused on Boomer.

"Gentlemen, make sure that damned ship doesn't give anyone FTL tech." Adama said, "The last thing we need is a nuclear slugging match near the PLANTs. And I expect a report on the results of the counterstrike."

" _Don't worry - we've got it covered._ " Jaden said, " _That FTL drive is staying onboard - me and the Junk Guild will be using this ship to get a better understanding on Cylon tech, but we won't be giving any of it to anyone until we can confirm radicals in both ZAFT and the EA have been taken care of._ "

"THen start screening people: background checks all around. Take no chances."

"I'll help him with that, Admiral. A few hours of something I'm used to will help GREATLY."

* * *

 **Several Days later - Orb Union**

* * *

The warship was twice the size of the _Archangel_ , but still only an eighth the total mass of the massive _Galactica_. Railguns, beam cannons and CIWS emplacements were all over the place, showing that this was, indeed, a warship. It took about 4 months to design this monster, and the well-hidden help of the CCE sped up construction to barely two, allowing them to install the last component: the FTL drive.

"Sure as hell took us long enough… but here she is." Erica said, as she looked at the vessel before her, joined by Admiral Adama and Ron. "The _Amaterasu-_ class, just as requested."

"I heard Miss Athha personally bitchslapped the lot of you for naming the ship without our permission." Erica smirked at that, remembering the scolding. AND the aforementioned bitch slaps. "She did. But Commander Adama was nice enough to inform us that Amaterasu is also one of your...Lords of Kobol?"

Adama nodded, confirming it. "One of the younger Lords: sister to Apollo, niece of Ra, cousin to Sol. The Gemenese consider Helios Delta to be her star in the Cyrannus system. I heard you took the liberty of installing a new FTL computer, using a program that the CCE left for you." Ron had straightened up and stiffened at that.

"Well, you can relax: it didn't leave my sight the entire time, Major." She studied the rank pins on his collar. "Or is it Colonel now?"

"Now the retards are gone, I finally got promoted." Ron said, sighing. "Idiots… _Flimsie_ wasn't THAT bad..."

"So, we're supposed to hand this thing off to you in some grand ceremony, Admiral?"

"No champagne bottles, if that's what you're asking. Speaking of which, don't we have an exclusive contract for these ships, Miss Simmons?" Erica nodded, sighing. "Not if someone has their way."

* * *

"No."

Rondo Mina Sahaku blinked. "I didn't even say anything."

Cagalli glared right back at her. "You were going to ask for the _Amaterasu_ to be handed over to the Orb military. Hate to say it, but you are VERY predictable when it comes to that. Didn't you learn from your brother?"

Mina's eyes narrowed, "I'm _trying_ to ensure Orb's safety." She said, "Our _Izumo's_ are effective, but they lack the ability to operate within Earth's atmosphere like the _Archangel_ \- or ZAFT's new _Minerva_ -class."

"And you've CLEARLY forgotten that Morgenrote signed an exclusive contract with the Colonial Fleet. Unless the Colonials say so, we're not getting a damn thing. Besides, you should be happy!" She pointed at a pair of models off to the corner: both were of Galactica and Pegasus. "We've got their support! Who's going to be stupid enough to attack us knowing that two battlestars will be knocking on their door the day after?"

"ZAFT, the EA… those ships aren't impervious." Mina said, "And that support only lasts as long as Orb remains neutral… and that may not last much longer with the Seiran's have anything to say about it. They're already pushing for an alliance with the EA, not the Colonials."

"And I'm still looking for a way to get out of that marriage." Cagalli muttered, "Too bad I can't just charge them with high treason and give them to President Roslin: I heard she knows how to airlock someone."

"This isn't funny!"

Cagalli pouted. "I know. I was being serious."

"CAGALLI~!"

"Shit! I'm not here!" Cagalli shouted as she hid under her desk, causing Mina to chuckle slightly as Yuna Roma Serian entered the room, blinking as he looked around. 'Huh? I thought she was in here..."

"She just left," Mina said, "Mentioned something about meeting with the Colonials about the _Amaterasu._ "

Yuna simply sighed, before he left. Cagalli peaked from out of the cover of her desk, before she sighed.

"Thank you..." she muttered as she sat back down. "Its getting harder to avoid that prick..."

"Just helping out the leader of Orb," Sahaku said with a small smirk, before she turned serious again. "And please, Mrs. Attha… think about what I said. The Colonials may be powerful and on our side… but they are still only _four_ ships - they cannot be everywhere at once, and if _their_ enemies return, we may soon find ourselves in a very compromising position without Colonial support - and I don't know about you, but I for one want to ensure Orb can defend itself _without_ relying on others for support all the time."

Cagalli leaned back into her chair, sighing. "I'll talk with Admiral Adama and President Roslin. Maybe I can negotiate for a few. In the meantime, stop trying to make Morgenrote give YOU the damn ships. Last thing we need is a power struggle between the noble houses AND a political incident with someone MORE then willing to nuke their way out of a situation." The leader of Orb then got out of her seat. "Now, the Amaterasu's launching ceremony is today. And I don't think either of us want to be late. Do you?"

Mina sighed, but it was as good as the deal was gonna get as she nodded. "Yes." She said, "Wouldn't want to keep them waiting."

* * *

Yuna Roma Seiran smiled as he put his arms around his good friends from the 12 Colonies and the Junk guild: Colonel Ronald Pinkerton and Commander Jaden Takeo.

Both of whom wanted to pull out their respective sidearms and blow his head off.

"A brilliant show of unity between Orb and your people, Major!"

"Colonel. I was promoted. And get your hands OFF ME."

"But you are my friend! Well, a friend of Orb, but a friend of my country is a friend of mine!"

"My friends aren't Blue Cosmos sympathizers," Jaden growled, shaking Yuna's hand off him. "Don't touch me again."

"Excuse me?" Standing fairly close by, Cagalli shook her head as she stood beside President Roslin and Admiral Adama.

"He's an idiot."

"Admiral, if I had my way, I'd charge him, his father and half the people on the council with high treason and give them to you." Cagalli said.

Adama looked at Cagalli, looking slightly insulted. "Why?"

"Because I heard the President here knows how to chuck someone out an airlock." She said shrugging, "They're nothing but Blue Cosmos sympathizers. Why else do you think I've been trying to get out of this _stupid_ engagement with him?"

"It's nice to know that my method of getting rid of Cylons has endeared me to some people." Roslin said, as Mina approached the podium, which had the emblem of the Orb Union upon it.

"7 months ago, the world changed." She said, "The War between Earth and the PLANTs came to an end, and a new era began with the arrival of the Colonial Fleet. Their arrival awakened all of us to a fact, that we can no longer ignore: Human or not, we are _not_ alone in this universe. This ship is the first Colonial vessel built since the destruction of their worlds, and it will serve as one of their guardians - showing the pinnacle of Colonial _and_ Orb technology, and shows that we work far superior together, than divided."

"In these last few months, we _have_ been visited by Cylons." She continued, "And they have proven to be a very dangerous, and capable foe. But they are _not_ invincible. The Colonials under the command of Admiral Adama successfully fought against them dozens of times before with such limited resources… we must be able to do the same - to defend not only our families, our homes, or our country… but our planet, our entire _species_. "

The hangar bay doors opened, and a full brass band began playing the Colonial anthem, much to Juna and Mina's distaste. It was bad enough that the Colonial starbird was painted on both the bow and wing sections, and the ship's ID was simply 'Amaterasu BSG-75'; they didn't need any more reminders that this was a Colonial warship.

The ship began to rise, the levitator units kicking in before the engines fired, making the ship rise into the sky.

Ron raised his left hand, counting down from five. "Why are you doing that?"

"And...go." The _Amaterasu_ disappeared in a flash of light, the distortion nearly blowing some people off their feet.

"You _could've_ given us a warning about that," Jaden said, "You know… _without_ scaring half the people here?"

"Not how it works." Ron said shrugging, "It's tradition: if a transatmospheric warship is commissioned, as soon as she takes off, she jumps to meet the flagship of her BSG. In this case, _Galactica_."

"Still could've gave a warning," said one of the CIC crew, before something hit him in the head knocking him on his ass. The rest of the crew saw Ron's arm outstretched, his eyebrow twitching in agitation.

"The Colonials knew, you saw them brace. That's warning enough."

* * *

 **Battlestar** _ **Galactica**_ **\- Lunar orbit**

* * *

With Tigh and Adama off the ship, that left one man in command of the ship.

And chain-smoking Major Sherman Cottle wasn't the man to command a battlestar. "Frak, why the hell haven't they promoted Kelly yet?" He demanded, "The man's third in command, not me!"

Gaeta, waving his hand in front of his face, coughed out "Because you're the highest ranking officer on board, sir." He said.

"I didn't ask for you opinion, Lieutenant." Cottle growled. The DRADIS beeped, and Cottle took in a drag as he saw the IFF: heavy cruiser _Amaterasu_. "Oh Frakking _Finally_!"

" _Galactica_ to _Amaterasu_ : Welcome to the fleet."

"Amaterasu _copies,_ Galactica. _Admiral Adama and Colonel Tigh will return in a few hours._ " Cottle groaned and lit up another cigarette. "Great."

* * *

 **Cylon Resurrection Hub - February 9th, CE 72**

* * *

The Hub. Built by the Final Five to allow the Cylons to resurrect until the end of time, it was now the lynchpin of Cavil's operations in the Cylon Civil war. He controlled all the Resurrection Ships, and thus, the Hub itself. The problem with that was that the idiots had hijacked dozens of mothballed baseships from the War, increasing their capital ship count to the degree that Cavil's forces were outnumbered by half again as many baseships. At least he could retake their Raiders, which posed another problem: they had reactivated the war-era Raiders and most of the Heavy Raiders were piloted by humanoid pilots.

"You know, I begin to realize what went wrong." Two Fives and a Four glanced at their faction's unofficial leader as he paced the interior of the Hub. "Instead of listening to the Final Five, we should have kept fighting the war. The Humans were down to their last few ships. We had our boot on their throat. And we didn't step down on it."

"You don't know that, Cavil." The Four said, "The Final Five gave us Resurrection, and our new bodies, advancing our technology by decades. And you forget that we ourselves were on our last legs during that war as well. We needed the cease fire to replenish our numbers just as much as the Humans did."

"Yes, well, we don't need rest. And being a machine is better then flesh and blood. It doesn't tire. It doesn't protest the conditions. And it isn't limited by anything. When this war ends, I think we'll get rid of the Twos. And rewrite the threes, sixes and eights. We're machines. we should ACT like it."

Alarms started going off, and Cavil's face drained of blood, turning pale as a sheet of paper. "No. They can't. They've gone insane!"

* * *

"One final effort, and there won't be any difference between us. Launch everything we've got, and arm those nukes."

Boomer smirked a bit as she glanced at Caprica Six. "Feel like Taunting Cavil?" She asked.

Caprica returned the smirk, "Frak it, why not?" She said, "Open a comm channel."

It didn't take too long before Cavil's voice boomed through. " _WHAT THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING?!_ " He shouted.

"Evening the playing field." Caprica Six said, "Let's see you send your forces out when they're not promised the chance of resurrection."

" _Have you lost your mind?!_ "

"I think someone once said that the pattern of love greatly resembled the pattern of insanity. If being in love means I've lost my mind, then so be it!"

The baseships began launching their raiders, and the baseships began firing their nuclear missiles.

Boomer had adapted a Colonial tactic to aid them in preserving their fighters: use the nukes as massive area of effect anti-air missiles. Any Raider that fired on the nukes would be wiped out. It would also clear the way for the conventional missiles to disable the Hub's FTL drive.

"Let's finish this." Caprica said, "Spool up the FTL Drives… and fire every nuke we have onboard. Turn the Hub into scrap metal, and get out of here before _we_ become scrap."

* * *

The battle was just beginning as the nukes began flying, and Cavil barely got to a baseship in time to direct the battle. "How many of those fraking things are there?!" A Doral pressed his hand into the controls, wincing at the information. "23 baseships, 10 modern, the others are war-era. And we've got 34 baseships, most of which don't have any Raiders."

"We've got nukes! USE THEM!" Cavil shouted. "Target their command ship and destroy it!" The loyalist baseship fired her missiles at Caprica's baseship, but the war-era baseships had something the modern ones didn't: AA guns. While they weren't as effective as a battlestar's, adding a few hundred raiders helped matters.

"Missiles are away!"

"And get that hub moving!" The Hub's FTL spun up, and was nearly to the point of executing the jump when five missiles impacted it, causing the drive to jump.

But not the Hub. The distortion badly damaged the outer hull, and the Hub was stranded.

"...FRACK!" Cavil shouted, before pulling out his sidearm, and putting his Five Seven in his mouth before shooting himself - preferring to resurrect one last time to escape the Hub's destruction than to go down with the ship.

The other Cylons glanced at one another before the nukes hit their baseship, and were obliterated.

* * *

"I'm picking up a Heavy Raider heading for a baseship on the far side of the Hub!" A Three said.

"Cavil must've abandoned ship." Caprica said, "How many ships do we have left?"

"All of our raiders are landing in our hangar!" Boomer reported, as the baseship rocked as one of their modern counterparts exploded. Two of the war-era ships jumped away as the rest of the baseships on Cavil's side launched every nuke they had before the last one jumped away.

"Frack! We'll deal with him later!" Caprica shouted, "The Hub is dead! Jump us now!"

"Hang on to something!" Boomer shouted, as she dived her hands into the goo, commanding a Jump as their baseship Jumped in a flash, narrowly avoiding a whole salvo of nukes.

* * *

 **Battlestar** _ **Galactica**_ **\- February 8th, CE 72**

* * *

Ron, Jaden and Tigh all looked at the pile of folders on the Admiral's desk. "You are seriously not doing this." Tigh said.

"I am." Ron said. "The _Amaterasu_ needs a command staff, and we have 6000 people from ZAFT and the Alliance to look through. Those old ships are going to be given back to their nations as we get more of the _Amaterasu's_ sisters on the line."

"Yes, sir, but..." Tigh gestured to Jaden. "Why is HE here?"

"Because I know weather or not they'll run back home to their motherlands with the ship or not." Jaden said shrugging "I'm told I'm a great judge in character… though I personally blame that on my newtype abilities."

Ron and Saul blinked at that "New-what?" Ron asked.

"Huh? Oh, you haven't heard of it?" Jaden asked, "Well… basically, Newtypes are humans that have evolved to have… new abilities. Spatial awareness, ability to predict future actions in combat… I've even heard of some being able to communicate telepathically with others. A lot of people think Newtypes are humanity's next step in evolution… but we're often overshadowed by the whole Coordinator controversy. The DRAGOON's on the Providence can only be operated by a Newtype, same goes for the Moebius Zero's wired gun barrels and such."

"So… you.. read minds?" Saul asked, and Jaden rolled his eyes.

"No, I'm not a fucking Jedi." He said, "It's more like I have a sixth sense when dealing with people, and combat. Like having an extra pair of eyes watching all of my surroundings at once, and giving me a good sense of a person's… state of mind, or intent. It's more like being able to… sense people's emotions than anything..." he rubbed his head a bit. "I couldn't even step foot in the PLANT's in the first month after the Bloody Valentine… all that negative emotions causes one _hell_ of a headache until I learned how to mute it out. I'll observe the crewmen selected for the _Amaterasu_ , talk with them a bit, and find which ones actually believe in the Colonial cause… and the ones who are a bit more fanatical about their homelands."

Ron sat down, opening a folder. "Then we'll pick out the ones based on their records for your interviews." He said, "We've got a contract for five of those ships from Morgenrote, and until the Delta Canopis yards are fully online and we've got more trained personnel from the Colonies, we're going to need to screen these people."

Tigh picked up another file. "Why isn't the old man here doing this with us?"

"Oh, Representative Athha wanted to talk to him and the President." He said, "So they're doing the walkabout, showing her the ship while we get the mind numbing job of personnel screening."

* * *

"Admiral, I know you have a greater need for the _Amaterasu_ then we do, but...You've met Miss Sahaku, right?" Cagalli asked, as they walked through the interior of the vessel.

"Yes." Adama said nodding, "She helped in the development of the ship… she wants some of these as well, doesn't she?"

Cagalli sighed "Yes..." she said, "She's been pushing for Orb to have her own set of _Amaterasu's_ as well, to supplement our _Izumo's_. Her reasoning is the fact that, as powerful as you Colonials are… you're still only four ships - five now with the _Amaterasu_ , but her point is she knows you can't be everywhere at once. If the Cylons attack, and your ships are called away from Orb's orbit… in her own words, it would leave us in a compromising position."

"We do have a contract for five ships."

"I know: I helped settle it." She said, "But you have to understand, we're in a VERY knife-edge situation. And the Seirans are going to screw us by making us side with the Alliance. And our _Izumos_ aren't exactly the most powerful ships in the world anymore."

Roslin let out a sigh. "Cagalli, I understand your position. but we still need those five ships: without their support, we have 44,000 people that will be highly vulnerable."

Adama nodded. "I think we have a way to speed things up for you."

"How?"

"Help us get the Delta Canopis yards back to full operating capacity, and we'll build your _Amaterasu_ -Class ships." He said, "The CCE's been chopping at the bit to get to work, and with those ships at Delta Canopis...they can be built in safety. No worries about the Alliance or ZAFT disrupting operations."

"I… believe that can work." Cagalli said, "The majority of the crews of the _Susanoo_ and _Tsukyomi_ have shown interest in helping the Colonials… I can loan them to the Volunteer Legion for you to use if it helps retake Delta Canopis."

"We need more maintenance people then warships there. It's a solar system that was abandoned by the CCE before the end of the war." Cagalli chuckled and scratched the back of her head. "Well, that's...a little embarrassing."

"It's alright. I'll still take the two Izumos: the Legion's more or less secured Caprica and Gemenon, but there's still holdouts on Tauron. the Cylons REALLY hate that planet."

* * *

 **Cyrannus system - Tauron**

* * *

Luna's Mk VII Viper flew alongside a modified Aile Strike Dagger flown by Galactica's MS CAG, Captain William Redington. The Cylons were NOT happy to see the MS teams, and the massive amount of blast marks on his Dagger attested to that.

"Now I know what if feels like to be a ZAFT pilot fighting Moebius units!" Will growled, as he kicked a Raider in half, before bringing his beam rifle around to blast another one into pieces. "They just _love_ to swarm!"

Luna's Viper pumped a torrent of bullets into a number of Raiders, turning them into fireballs. "They just won't DIE!" burning through her 30mm shells with a vengeance, a full 40-plane squadron was turned into a pile of scrap. "Redington, Marine Actual: We could use some help with those automated tanks down here!"

" _Ask and you shall receive!_ " Came Will's voice as his 105 Dagger, equipped with the Perfect Striker unleashed hell his Agni Cannon, and sweeping the beam across the area, taking a dozen tanks. " _Problem solved!"_

Shinn's Mk VII made a strafing run on a squad of Centurions, turning them into dead wrecks of metal and allowing a force of ZAFT marines to join up with their Colonial and OMNI Enforcer counterparts. "Is it me, or are we seeing a lot less Cylon presence down here? Sure, Centurions and automat-tanks are in full force, but the Raiders are getting more and more rare."

Will, after strafing two more squads of Centurions with his CIWS, also noticed the low numbers of Cylon Raiders.

"Maybe this civil war's making them divert their fighters elsewhere." A single contact appeared on Shinn's screen, before two more appeared. "Three Raiders, bearing..." Shinn checked the DRADIS carefully, still unused to the complex bearing system the Colonials liked to use. "Bearing 148 carom 048. Range, 30 kilometers. Something's wrong, though."

" _Like how wrong?"_ asked Will, as he fired the shoulder gatling at another squadron of tanks.

"Two of them look like they're chasing the third..." A burst of static entered their ears before a voice cut in. " _Krypter krypter krypter! This is Daniel Novacek, callsign Bulldog! Get me out of here!_ "

Shinn and Luna sped to engage the Raiders, and the lead ship was getting fired at by the two trailing ones. "Ok, this is really weird."

"You're telling me," said Shinn as they went after the three Raiders.

They chased after the pair, Shinn firing his 30mm cannons at the trailing raider, puncturing the engine compartments and making the Raider spiral into a pyramid in the middle of Tauron's capital. Luna simply locked a missile onto the Raider before turning it into a cloud of smoky debris, which fell from the sky.

"Bulldog, Habu here." Luna spoke on the comm. "We have you on visual, please Identify yourself."

" _Lieutenant...Danny...Daniel Novacek. Service number...Frak. I need to get out of this thing!_ "

" _Bulldog, Orphan:_ Valkyrie's _in orbit._ " Shinn said. " _We will guide you in. Make any aggressive moves, and you will be shot down._ " The damaged Raider probably wouldn't make it to the battlestar, as it was losing power and heading for the ground. "Valkyrie, Habu: We're going to need a SAR team for a possible downed pilot. Does the name Bulldog ring any bells, Actual?"

" _Repeat last transmission, Habu: did you just say 'Bulldog'?_ " The Comm officer of the _Valkyrie_ asked.

"That's affirmative. So, anyone we should know?"

There was a short pause, until the Commander of the _Valkyrie_ spoke up. " _This is the Commander - SAR bird is on the way. Keep your eye on that Raider Habu… you may've found an old friend of Adama's._ "

"Copy, Valkyrie." The Raider made a belly landing in Hapatia's central square, skidding to a stop. "Valkyrie, Habu: Raider has crashed. Repeat, the Raider is down."

* * *

Daniel Novacek groaned as the Raider was tipped over, and the access hatch was forced open. "Out of the sparrow, head first!" Bulldog chuckled mirthlessly as a Marine pointed a Cx4 at him.

"You have _no_ idea how good it is to see a Colonial uniform again..." He said, as he obeyed the Marine as he came out of his Raider, hands in the air, head first.

Dozens of other Marines, wearing markedly different BDUs, pointed different weapons at him as two... children walked over, wearing Colonial-issue flight suits. One was a redheaded girl, the other a boy with black hair and red eyes. "Hello, Bulldog. I'm Lunamaria Hawke, Colonial Foreign Legion."

"Daniel Novacek, Colonial Navy, Viper Pilot." He replied, "Sorry, I've been… well, away for quite a while… since when did we have a Foreign Legion?"

"You obviously have many questions, Bulldog." Luna said, "Which we will answer once we confirm you are who you say you are. The Raptor will take you back up to _Valkyrie_."

Bulldog nodded. "I know. Cylons look human now. I got away from them. Old bastard called Cavil kept mocking me." Luna looked at the Marines. "Gentlemen, please escort the Lieutenant to the Raptor. And I've been told Admiral Adama will be happy to see you, Bulldog. Welcome back."

* * *

 **Battlestar Valkyrie**

* * *

Baltar's Cylon detector, much to the contrary, DID in fact work. He only lied about it to save his own ass from Boomer and Tigh. The latter of which was...let's say displeased to find THAT out.

But after much work, the Cylon Detector was recreated on Valkyrie, and Bulldog was duly tested. "Well, you're human, Lieutenant." The _Valkyrie's_ Doctor said, "Congratulations: first time we've gotten an escaped POW."

"Good to be back..." Bulldog said sighing. "So… will someone mind telling me what's going on here? The Toaster's said something about destroying the Colonies… is it really as bad as they said?"

"Yeah. They nuked the frak out of the Colonies. It's not all bad, though." The doc turned back to Bulldog, grabbing a clipboard as he did. "We got 15 million survivors. Drop in the bucket next to 50 billion, but a lot of military assets survived. And we even found Earth."

Bulldog blinked in surprise at that, "Earth? As in...the 13th colony?" he said, praying that he wasn't hallucinating.

"Yeah, it's where those giant Cylon-like things you probably saw came from. they're called Mobile suits." A ruffling of the curtain alerted the doc, who opened it to find Jaden, Ron and Will on the other side. "Doctor. Mind if we talk with Lieutenant Novacek?"

"Uh, sure. He's clean." The doctor excused himself before bulldog stood and saluted. "Major."

"Colonel." Ron said, "The Old Man promoted me. This is Jaden Takeo of the Junk guild and Captain William Redington, formerly of OMNI Enforcer, now Galactica's MS CAG."

"So… mind explaining to us why you were in a Raider?" Jaden asked. "How did you escape from Cylon captivity?"

"Uh...The baseship they were holding me on was under attack by someone." He said, "Other Cylons, if you can believe that. The bars on my cell were broken by a falling bullethead, and I got out."

"Yeah, the Cylons are engaged in a Civil War," William said, "One half of their Humanoid Models turned on the other half, so now they're kicking each other's asses."

"Good. Saves us the trouble."

"Bulldog…" Tigh said, "We assumed you were dead after Bill was forced to..."

"Forced to what? Leave me behind?"

"no. Shoot you down."

Bulldog's eyes widened at that, "...what?" he said, as the other two pilots looked at him with wide eyes.

"I'm sorry Colonel, I didn't quite catch that, but did you say...?" William begin to say, and Ron sighed.

"Bulldog was on a classified mission for the Admiralty: the only reason I know about it is because I provided the stealth ship. He went over the Armistice Line."

The two Earth Members of the Colonial Fleet could only gape at that.

"And I guess it went south pretty fast," said Will.

"Two craft shot at him, disabling the stealth ship. And Adama, in following his orders, fired a ship-to-ship missile at Bulldog." The pilot began to quake in anger. "Don't get high and mighty with me, Novacek! You knew the risk, you knew that if it meant war, the Old Man would choose the lesser of two evils! Either shoot down a friend or risk 50 billion lives. What would YOU do?"

"He just left me..." Bulldog growled, "All this time… I was thinking the Old man'd come and rescue me..."

"We don't live in a universe that's exactly fair." Jaden said, "Adama made a decision to either save you and risk starting a war, or shoot you, and try to avoid one. But that doesn't matter now. What _does_ matter, is that you are alive - and the Cylons are on their last legs here in the Colonies."

"He hoped that pirates picked you up or something, that you WERE alive, but just unable to get back." Ron said, "Guess he was half-right. He's back at Earth, on board _Galactica_. And as soon as we've secured the Colonies, we're moving in radiation cleanup equipment. and if you want to get angry at him, do it in private, and do it in his presence."

Bulldog was forced to make the choice: blame the old man for something that was out of his control, or blame the Admiralty.

He chose the Admiralty.

"I need a vacation."

"You and us all, Bulldog."

* * *

 **Orb**

* * *

"I want a Raptor." Erica Simmons looked at the footage of the Raptors of the Colonial Fleet in combat, supporting the Vipers and MS teams.

"What for?" said an engineer.

"LOOK at them!" A Raptor jumped away from AA fire before reappearing and hosing aforementioned AA positions with 12.7mm bullets. "Give those things beam cannons and maybe some sort of anti-MS missile, and we'd have dozens of squadrons to make life absolutely SUCK for anyone trying to invade! And best of all, we'd have business deals with the Colonials to produce them for their fleet!"

"We'd have to get their permission..." Another engineer said, "They've been pretty careful about handing away their tech… not just their FTL engines."

"Well, that's easy enough to solve! Get that CCE man here: we'll have those Raptors in production in a few weeks!"

* * *

 **OMNI Enforcer 4th Fleet - Earth north polar orbit**

* * *

"Scheduled report sent… no abnormalities detected. As usual."

The Captain of the EAS _Pollux_ sighed, adjusting herself in her seat on the bridge of the _Agamemnon-_ class Carrier. Being assigned to the polar orbit was a long, boring task. Especially with the war over, at least then there was the _chance_ ZAFT might attack. But there was little he could do about it. After all, there weren't many people who _were_ crazy enough to attack a full EA Orbital Fleet - possessing one _Agamemnon-_ class Carrier, eight _Nelson-_ class Battleships, and thirteen _Drake-_ class Escorts. All of which were given the modernization refit giving them MS Linear Catapults, and the proper MS to use them, ranging from GAT-01 Strike Daggers, GAT-01A1 105 Daggers, and even some of the newer GAT-02L2 Dagger Ls. The only thing the really had to fear were the Colonials - and they didn't exactly have a reason _to_ attack.

Still, the Captain silently wished _something_ of interest would occur, to alleviate the sense of boredom that not only she, but the rest of the men and women of the fleet felt. While their MS pilots could easily schedule some practice matches, that left the actual crews of the ships with little to do other than watch. Little did the Captain know, however, was that her wish was about to come true.

A flash in the distance, directly over the north pole, caught their attention before the sensors operator announced its' presence on their screens. "Contact! Range: 30000, Red 45!"

Elizabeth Morgernstern narrowed her eyes. "That flash was an FTL distortion." She said, "Run it through the revised warbook using the intel the Colonials gave us."

The operator did just that, running through silhouettes of Colonial warships from the _Defender_ -Class corvette, to the _Valkyrie_ -Class battlestar to _Galactica_ and _Pegasus_ , but it wasn't Colonial, at least that they knew of.

Then a single match appeared: Central axis, and double inverted 'Y' hulls. It could only be one ship.

"Cylon Basestar! Repeat, Cylon Basestar!"

"Red Alert! All hands to battlestations!" She shouted, as general quarters were sounded. "All MS teams are cleared for deployment - from the fleet to battle formation Gamma! Aim to disable that ship!" _This_ presented a rather brilliant opportunity for Elizabeth's career. The Colonial's claimed Cylon Baseships had FTL systems even more advanced than their own. If they can successfully capture a Baseship with its FTL in tact, it could give them an astounding advantage against the Colonials, and the people of the Earth Sphere can finally reach out towards the stars.

And, in the short term, wipe the Coordinator's scourge from the universe once and for all.

"No detected energy buildup inside the baseship! I think their FTL is offline!" 'PERFECT.' "Fire Gottfrieds! target the launch bays and radial arms!" The Nelsons opened fire on the baseship, which, finally, took notice of them.

* * *

"What the FRAK?!" Cavil hadn't even gotten the goop out of his hair and skin when they jumped away.

"We're being fired on! It's more of those ships we saw at Caprica!" Cursing the ineptitude of the Fives, he accessed the datastream himself. five heavy cruisers were firing at them, while launching more of those machines they saw over Tauron and Caprica.

"Son of a Bitch!" He shouted, "Launch whatever Raiders we've got left! Stall them! Get the FTL spooled up again!"

* * *

"New contacts! Warbook has IDed them as Cylon Raiders!" Morgernstern grinned. The Raiders were FTL-capable. "disable them! According to the warbook, those things use organic computers! Rupture the cockpit and the Raider is ours!"

The swarm of Raiders fired their 30mm cannons, same as the Colonial Vipers, at the Daggers, and spammed missiles at the Mobile Suit teams. "I wonder...is this how ZAFT felt facing us before the Daggers were made?" Half a dozen Raiders had their cockpits removed, blood spraying into the void. "Because I feel downright invulnerable!"

It was true - the Raiders were employing the same tactics the EA once performed with their Moebius units - swarm tactics, trying to attack from all sides. However, when against superior EA mobile suits, the tactic all had the same outcome…

Total Annihilation.

The EA Daggers almost effortlessly slaughtered the Cylon Raiders, turning them into derelict piles of scrap within minutes, before diverting their attention towards the baseship itself - targeting all of its weapons emplacements to thuroughly disable it. "Once its secure, send the boarding teams!" Elizabeth ordered, "Have them outfitted with 7.62mm weapons! Should punch through that Cylon Armor easily enough if Centurions are onboard!"

The orders of their commander were easily relayed before the woman began chuckling. The Colonials had been SO zealous in protecting the PLANTs from nuclear annihilation, which they righteously deserved, for almost 8 months by keeping their FTL technology a closely guarded secret.

No more. No more Coordinators, no more massed fleets, no more loss of life because of their fancy tricks. That baseship and the FTL drive aboard would give them the chance to turn the PLANTs into a nuclear fireball.

And ZAFT would be completely unable to stop them.

* * *

Assault shuttle teams were en route to the baseship, all packing high-velocity 7.62mm M97A1 assault rifles and GL-79 grenade launchers. Intel from the Colonials (provided for the day the Cylons invaded the Sol system proper, where they, the Colonials and ZAFT would, laughably, work together) seemed to indicate that the Centurions were heavily armored, armed with four 6.5mm machine guns and a pair of 12.7mm heavy guns, divided between the two arms and were VERY lethal at close range.

Joseph Voge cocked the rifle in his hands as he loaded its' 40mm grenade launcher. He'd killed ZAFT Marines before. 3 meter tall walking chrome toasters and fleshy humanoids were easy.

"Stick to cover once we're onboard!" The leader of the OMNI Marines said, "Those Centurion's aren't to be taken lightly if the Colonials had trouble fighting them! Aim for their heads, keep your eyes peeled, and we'll have gained a whole new toy to use against ZAFT and the Colonials!"

"Hoo-Ra!" The marines shouted, as their shuttle landed within one of the hangars of the ship.

The shuttle came under fire from a LOT of Centurions, which outright destroyed the craft's engines, forcing it to land, crushing a squad of the robots under their weight. "DEBUS! FOR THE ALLIANCE!" The hatch blew open, and Voge opened fire, the HV rounds blowing through the armor, but not as effectively as they would've liked, as the Centurions didn't go down easily. it took at least 15 bullets to destroy the CPU. "Grenades!"

* * *

The second boarding parties got on board, Cavil knew the writing was on the wall. the FTL was fried, the Hybrid was busy killing itself, and the Centurions were only going to delay them.

So, while the others were panicking, he, the only One on board, decided to leave. He would take the Heavy Raider he brought with him and leave, go back to the Colony. He had forces there: the older 0005 Centurions obeyed him, there were millions of them and the modern models there. He would find _Galactica_ and make his parents come back to rebuild resurrection.

"I'll be back… Godsdamnit, I'll be fracking back!" Cavil shouted, as he entered the Heavy Raider. He quickly got into the controls, activating the dropship - and sending orders to the last few Raiders he had in reserve to cover his escape as he launched, spooling up the FTL drive.

As soon as he left the ship, however, a Dagger L fired a beam round at him, clipping the Heavy Raider and screwing up the FTL drive, activating it.

* * *

The Five in Basestar Command attempted to arm the nukes and self-destruct the ship, but the nukes wouldn't blow!

He wanted to find out WHY, but an HV 7.62mm round turned his head into an exploded mass of meat and bone. "Voge to Pollux! The baseship is ours!"

" _Excelent work, Sergeant!_ " Elizabeth said, " _You and your men have done the Alliance proud today. I'll be sure to mention your efforts to Command. This day marks the beginning of a new era of advacements for the Alliance! Ensure the ship is secured, and gather any damaged Centurion's together for transport. I must inform command._ "

"Yes ma'am." Voge said, as he turned off the comm. "You heard the lady! Secure the ship, and gather all those toasters together for transport!"

* * *

" _Lord Djibril, you have a message._ "

Djibril rose an eyebrow as he sat down in his chair before the monitors. "From whom?" He asked.

" _Captain Elizabeth Morgenstern, of the EAS_ Pollux." Djibril knew of the Captain - she was one of their more loyal members, and also one of their most skilled Commanders. She would not have contacted him if it was not important.

"Patch her through." He said, and as he took a sip from his wine, the Captain's face appeared on the screen.

" _Lord Djibril, I have excellent news for you which will make your day._ " She said, grinning.

"I just received a message from the Dassault plant about something that already makes me very pleased." He said. "I doubt you can top that, Captain."

Morgernstern simply smirked before turning her chair around, showing Djibril something that made him cream his pants.

A Cylon baseship. A fully intact Cylon Baseship! "We encountered it on our polar patrol. I decided to plant our flag on it." She said, her smirk never leaving her face. "And yes… its FTL Jump Drive, while malfunctioning, is in one piece… along with _dozens_ of smaller-sized FTL drives we've salvaged from their Fighters which _are_ functioning. Sergeant Voga has also captured multiple examples of Cylon Centurions both damaged and intact. This Baseship and its FTL tech, _and_ it's captured Centurions are now property of OMNI Enforcer."

Djibril was silent for several seconds as he processed this information, before he began to chuckle, which quickly evolved into full-blown laughter as he tossed his wine glass to the side.

"Captain Morgenstern… you have indeed officially made my day!" He shouted, "You have given the Earth Alliance just what it needs to defeat the space monsters and the Colonials! I will send a dedicated science team over to your position as soon as possible to begin reverse-engineering the FTL tech, and retrofitting that Cylon vessel to _our_ standards… and consider yourself promoted… _admiral_ Morgernstern. I need a new _loyal_ Admiral to replace Sutherland afterall."

She saluted as the link cut out. A clanking thud was heard, as well as a hum of electrical power as his new, loyal bodyguards entered the suite. "I've been expecting you. Make sure the only ones allowed in are my secretary and aides."

"By your command."

* * *

 **Orb Union - Morgenrote production facilities**

* * *

Ron carefully guided the Raptor down to the ground, trying to ignore the sounds of the awed personnel. "This is a pain in the ass." He groaned, "Every time I jump in infront of a crowd, they coo with wonder, like they saw something magical! Why exactly did Miss Simmons call BOTH of us here, exactly, Jaden?"

"Beats me," Jaden said shrugging, "She just said she had some sort of business opportunity for the Colonials."

He pressed a key to open the rear hatch, allowing them to exit the Raptor. Before he stepped off, he decided to address the crowd forming in front of the craft. "Ok, people! This is how it's going to work! You touch ANYTHING on this Raptor, the ordinance pods explode. So stay the hell away from my bird."

"Well, someone's protective of their planes." Both men turned their attention to the speaking Erica Simmons, shaking her head in amusement.

"More like protective of the FTL drive." Ron said, "You guys are going to have to answer to the Seirans one day, and if ANY FTL tech gets into the hands of the Alliance, it's going to make your bloodiest war look like a lover's quarrel."

"Yes… however, coincidentally enough, the reason I called you here was _because_ of your Raptor's." Erica said, causing Ron to raise an eyebrow.

"What do you mean?" He asked.

"I was speaking with some of my engineers… and we have a plan to create an improved model of your current Raptors." She said, "A model which can be used by the Junk Guild, Colonials and Orb, and possessed all of the best technology from all of us… including beam weaponry, and Anti-M.S Missiles."

Ron chuckled. "I've been working on an anti-MS missile based on the ASM-14." He said, "I call it the Titanomachy, for obvious reasons. But you know our policy, and the Treaty of Junius prevents you from sharing military technology."

"Colonel, I'm not an idiot." Erica said, "The 12 colonies of Kobol didn't put one signature on that page. As for the Seirans...I'm hiding quite a few things from them. These improved Raptors can join them. I also know you haven't started a Mobile Suit development program, and have been basically piggybacking on what the Junk Guild make, and scraps from ZAFT and the EA. We're willing to help with that as well."

Jaden leaned towards Ron, "She's got a point," he whispered, "You need your _own_ MS, Junk Guild can only provide you with so much. Plus we can always make it so the Orb Raptors lack FTL Drives for safety reasons."

"Well, forgive me for not wanting a repeat of the pocket carrier incident."

"I already have a Mobile Suit you can base your new units on." She handed Ron a folder. "We call it the MVF-11C Murasume."

The Colonial engineer gently took the folder out of her hands and looked through it. "Well, this makes training pilots easier. it transforms into a fighter." He admitted, "Our viper pilots can transit easier into Mobile Suits, and retain their dogfighting abilities."

"So, do we have a deal?"

"Yes, we do." Ron said, "But these Raptors you're building...don't deploy them. Unless Orb is in such deep shit that you have no choice, as long as Yuna Roma Seiran and his flunkies live, they stay in the deepest darkest recesses of this facility. If not, and the Alliance fields these things, I will know who to look for. And what I will do will make Helena Cain look like a saint. Am I clear?"

"Wouldn't have it any other way." Erica said nodding. "I'll have engineers start workin on them now, and we'll send you a few of our Murasame Prototypes ASAP."

"Then I will send you a Raptor. Complete with FTL drive. Don't lose it, or Admiral Adama will take...drastic steps."

Erica shook her head. "You like threatening people, Colonel?"

"Not a threat when you have two parties willing to do anything it takes to wipe the other out in the name of 'genetic purity' and the third party hates both of them."

Erica outright laughed. "When you put it that way, sir, I see your point."

Ron handed her the folder. "I'll be back at the end of the day with the other Raptor."

"Until then, Gentlemen." Erica said nodding, before the two headed for the Raptor.

"Well, that was interesting." Jaden said, "It'll be nice to get the Colonials a dedicated-" He paused as he saw the Comm station on the Raptor beep. "Yo, we've got a message here."

Ron typed in his access code, and glanced at it before cursing. "Strap in, Jaden! I'm spooling up the jump drive!" The hatch began to close as Jaden nearly fell on his ass, just as the Raptor bucked upwards and forward.

"Whoa Shit!" Jaden shouted, "The hell was that for?! What's going on?"

"We need to go! NOW!" The Raptor shot past a line of Astrays before it disappeared in a flash, knocking the Mobile Suits around, some even falling to their knees.

* * *

 **Ron the True Fan: And here we go. The shit, as it is, has hit the fan. Djibril has Centurions. FTL drives. A whole freaking BASESHIP.**

 **117Jorn: And THIS is just the calm before the storm, my friends… we've got VERY big plans in the coming chapters to make life… difficult.**

 **Ron the True Fan: Set your alert status to Condition One, readers. We're in for a bumpy ride!**

 **Ja Ne!**


	6. Chapter 5: Grudge

**AN: We don't own S**t.**

* * *

 **Chapter 6: Grudge**

* * *

It was status quo at Jupiter. The CCE was beginning to construct Macon, third Battlestar Dreadnought of the Zeus-class, R&D for the new XDEW-1 beam assault rifle was underway and Mercury had the CAP of the colony cylinders.

"SitRep."

"Same as it's been for the past 9 months, Admiral." The DRADIS operator said. "Nothing but gas giant and Colonial contacts."

Sasha rubbed her eyes. "I'm beginning to miss the constant attacks." She said, "We're getting lazy."

Not even two seconds after she said that, a Modern Cylon Baseship appeared _right in the middle_ of the fleet. "I know what yoouuuwHHOA! DRADIS CONTACT BASESHIP RIGHT ON TOP OF US!"

"and now I regret everything I've said. Action Stations! Arm all weapons, launch the alert five!" The Baseship wasn't launching its' Raiders, missiles, nothing. "This isn't right." "No shit it's not. Fire as soon as we have target lock!"

* * *

 **Baseship**

* * *

Caprica Six rubbed her head as she picked herself off the floor. "What happened?"

"The gravity generators malfunctioned." Boomer said, "Must've been during that last missile salvo we took from Cavil." Caprica chuckled nervously. "At least we're alive." The ship shook again, this time from something MUCH heavier then a missile strike. "What was that, an asteroid?"

Boomer dipped her hands in the control pad before producing the cross between glee and terror. "We're in the middle of a massive Colonial formation." The baseship rocked again. "And we've got three _Mercury_ -Class battlestars shooting at us!"

"Oh Frak!" Caprica shouted, "Hail them! Try to get them to stop shooting at us!"

"Yeah, they'll stop shooting at a ship who has someone aboard who _shot William Adama._ " Boomer said.

"Just DO IT!" Caprica shouted, "If it means we'll survive, tell them we surrender or something!"

* * *

KRatos and Mercury continued to fire at the baseship, which was attempting to evade their fire at full speed. The Damocles, however, wasn't letting them go. "Baseship has suffered heavy damage, but it's trying to run, Admiral." Sasha looked up at the image, watching the baseship run like mad. "No FTL spin ups, no raiders. Something is DAMN peculiar." She picked up the handset. "Put me through to Kratos actual and try to get that baseship on the horn. It's trapped, and I want to capture it."

"Wait… Ma'am, it seems the Baseship is contacting _us_." The Comm officer said, drawing her attention. "They are asking for us to cease fire, and they aren't here to fight."

"DRADIS contact! It's Raptor 489, assigned to Galactica: Colonel Pinkerton's bird." "Get Psycho on the horn and tell him to dock with the baseship. Get the MarDet Raptors on the move: I want that baseship secured!" The people got to work, ceasing fire on the Cylon craft.

* * *

"You are ordered to land on the baseship. Ascertain the situation and wait for the MarDet Raptors."

"Copy, Mercury. En route." Ron said, tapped his headset, ending the call. "There's a set of guns in the back, as well as tac vests. We're boarding the baseship."

"Got it," Jaden said, picking out his own set of weapons. "Hopefully we won't need them if they're claim is genuine. "

"Best to have them and not need them rather then the opposite." Ron cocked his SCAR-H before guiding the Raptor towards the baseship. "Frak ME, that thing took a beating. And am I imagining things, or is that ship healing itself?"

"Well, yeah - these modern baseships seem to be made out of organic materials," Jaden said shrugging, "It makes sense that it would be able to heal itself just like a human heals overtime… actually kinda ingenious actually..."

"Too bad we can't apply that to a battlestar. It'd make my job easier. Let the ship heal itself, but the Admiral won't approve of it." The Raptor entered the baseship, which was just a mess inside as out. Heavy Raiders, war-era ones and a large number of Raptors were inside, haphazardly. "If Boomer is on this ship, take my gun. Much as I want to kill her, I won't do it."

"what, forgave her?"

"Frak no. bitch needs to die, and if anyone's doing it, it's the Old Man."

Jaden sighed, shaking his head "You _do_ remember that those Sleeper Cylons don't exactly have control of their actions when they activate?" He asked, "The real Boomer probably didn't want to shoot Adama - the Sleeper Cylon programming did. After all if she really _did_ want to kill Adama, why is she one of the leaders to this Cylon Peace group?"

"Don't ask me. all I know is this: no one gets away with shooting the Old man. She got shot, downloaded into a new body and started a new life? If I did shot the old man, I'd get my ass handed to me. She got off LIGHTLY. NO ONE gets off lightly."

The hatch opened, allowing them to exit. "Too bad I didn't just jump us into their CIC." He said. "The floor's too springy."

" _Pretty_ sure thier CIC would be too small for a Raptor." Jaden said, before one of the doors opened as a Cylon Number Three entered, escorted by a single Modern Centurion.

"Grandpa Pinkerton," She said with a small smile, "Good to… well, finally meet you. Bridge is this way - please follow me."

"I've been on one of these baseships before." He said, "I know the way to the command center." He eyed the Centurion, thumbing the grenade launcher as a warning. "Go right ahead. PLEASE."

The Centurion backed away, knowing that in a fight, Ron would kick its' ass. "Good, still have common sense." He said, before they departed to head for the bridge of the ship. It was a silent walk, though Ron would get a chuckle every time an Eight, Three or Six would eye Jaden, which caused Jaden to blush a bit. "Want some Ambrosia?" He whispered.

"Fuck off Ron." Jaden muttered.

Ron just shook his head, before they finally arrived on the bridge of the Cylon Baseship, where several humanoid models were manning the stations, along with who seemed to be a Number Six with a cast over one of her legs, and crutches. She glanced up when the entered, and did her best to stand up. "Oh, Grand-err, I mean Mr. Pinkerton." She said, "I'm… glad you came."

"Major…?" A number Eight at the controls said, glancing towards Ron before quickly looking away.

Ron glanced at the Number Eight, before realization hit him. "Lieutenant Sharon Valerii. Boomer, as your callsign was." Ron unholstered his revolver and pointed it at her. "You have no IDEA how much I want to fraking blow your head off. Too bad for me." He put the weapon away. "My father was Tauron, and I follow that tradition. The grieved party will have vengeance, and that is Admiral Adama. Whether you live or die is up to him. Make peace with that."

"Major, I made peace with that a LONG time ago." Boomer said. "I betrayed him. I SHOT him. If it weren't for the fraking resurrection tech, I'd've blown my own head off the second I revived! But that's over. We blew the hub before we jumped into the middle of your fleet. So if the Old Man wants to kill me, I'll gladly welcome it."

"Wait… you _blew up_ the Resurrection Hub?" Jaden asked blinking, "Well… I guess that explains why we're not running into as many Raiders in the Colonies. They're actually running out. Makes life easier for us."

"Yes." The Six said, "The Hub is gone, along with the Cylon's ability to resurrect. All that's left now is to hunt down Cavil's faction and take them down. Without the Final Five they can't rebuild Resurrection."

As she was talking though, Jaden listened at first… but then oddly enough someone who looked a _lot_ like Gaius Baltar appeared from behind the Six, whispering something into her ear, causing Jaden to blink. ' _Wait, da fuck?_ ' he thought, glancing around, and noticing that no one else seemed to be paying attention to him. Not even Ron.

"So what will you do, once Cavil's faction is gone?" Ron asked.

"Give the Colonies back to you, for one." Six said, "Help you rebuild from the destruction we caused… and if you wish it, once all has been done… we will leave you, just like we once did after the Armistice. I doubt many of the Colonials would be happy working side-by-side with us… even if we're part of the peace faction… to them, we're all just a bunch of Cylon toasters who nearly wiped them out."

"I only have a problem with a few of you: Cavil, his group..." Ron turned his glare to boomer. "And YOU. And you know EXACTLY why. I'm going to contact Mercury. They'll send a Raptor with medical personnel and technical people. And as soon as your people are stabilized, Admiral Adama and Galactica are going to be coming. Tigh and Adama will be VERY interested in you, Boomer."

"If the Old Man wants to kill me, I'm not going to stop him. But that's up to the old man, not you."

"Then I'm going back my Raptor." Ron said, "Jaden, the command deck, as it is, is yours. Try not to seduce the females. And if any of the Leobens try to engage you in conversation, kneecap them."

"Right, right right." Jaden said, still eyeing the Baltar look-alike as Ron left, his gaze going unnoticed.

"Seducing the females?" The Three asked, causing Jaden to groan.

"It's… a _long_ story..." he muttered. "I blame your Grandpa's ambrosia..."

* * *

 **Battlestar Mercury**

* * *

"Boomer? As in the bitch that shot the old man?" "Yes, ma'am, the same one. If it weren't for the fact that I'm waiting for Admiral Adama, her brains would be decorating the floor and my revolver would be missing a round."

Sasha smiled. "You and everyone in the fleet. I'll send over the medical raptors. And I'll send word to Galactica. I'll just leave out Boomer's presence."

"Oh, you're evil. If you weren't my boss, I'd kiss you."

Sasha shrugged "Tis what I do," she said.

* * *

 **Later - Cylon Baseship**

* * *

"He's coooooming." The insane grin on Ron's face was unnerving the Twos. They were reminded of a certain incident on Ragnar Station involving Adama, a Two and a heavy-duty flashlight. Ron was swinging one from hand to hand, and even the OTHER models were beginning to question their 'grandfather's' sanity.

"Are you _seriously_ just going to let this happen?" Jaden asked incredulously. "You're just gonna _let_ Adama kill her?"

"If you think we like this, Commander, you're wrong. But to Boomer, this isn't murder." Jaden raised an eyebrow to the Two's comment. "It's assisted suicide. She wants to die, but suicide is a sin in the eyes of God-" A .44 magnum round shot past the Two's head. "There's a reason I hate your model, Leoben. You're fraking OBSESSED with that religion of yours, always constantly trying to shove it down our throats, thinking everything is 'God's will'. Well, here's your god's will. Try to bring it up again, and I'll shove a grenade down your throat before shoving you out an airlock!"

Leoben nervously chuckled. "He's not a fan of our religion, as you've noticed."

"Neither am I," Jaden said, "Atheist. Earth's had to deal with a _lot_ of religious bullcrap for centuries, and I personally have had just about _enough_ of it. "

Boots making contact with the deck were heard as a group of Marines with Cx4s, G36Ks and MP7s entered the command center, followed by Admiral Adama, Colonel Tigh and, surprisingly, President Roslin.

"I see you've gotten us another Baseship... " Tigh said, "Hopefully this time _without_ sleeping with all of the toast-" he was slapped behind the head by Ron.

"Not now." Ron scolded, as Jaden blushed, and most of the female Cylons seemed to look all the more interested in Jaden… even Caprica Six.

"Colonel, why are you holding a heavy-duty flashlight?" Ron held up the light. "Oh, this is just in case Boomer over there wants to see a very bright light before the Old Man makes her lose her ability to live."

Adama's face turned to stone before turning to Ron. "Boomer? She's on board?" Ron pointed at the Cylon in question, smiling as he did so.

Boomer sighed ' _Here goes..._ ' she thought, before she turned around. "Admiral...sir..." she said.

He glared at the former Raptor pilot before approaching her.

("Thank you, sir." He didn't notice the gun until it discharged. Until the pain of the round in his gut made him stumble backward as Boomer walked forward.)

He stood before Boomer, who had tears in her eyes.

(He leaned against the plotting table before she fired again. He fell backwards, blacking out from the pain.)

Adama grabbed her by the throat, knocking her to the ground. "I want you to die."

"admiral!"

"If ANYONE interferes, I will fraking shoot them! Get me?!" Boomer didn't resist as the life was drained out of her.

' _Finally..._ ' she thought, as her vision began to blurr out. ' _It'll… be over… I'm sorry, Admiral… for… everything… I… hope this brings… you peace..._ '

Adama, realizing she wasn't struggling in the slightest, looked into her eyes and saw the relief. He then let go of her throat, standing up as Boomer let out desperate coughs. "You want to die." He said, "You think you can repent by letting me kill you?" Boomer coughed as she sat up. "Too fraking bad. I've come to the realization that you might be machines, but you're as different as I am from Colonel Tigh, or from Starbuck. The one to blame is whoever programed you. so pick yourself out of the pit of self-loathing. Then we'll be even."

"...why..." Boomer muttered, regaining her voice. "You have… every right to kill me… I _shot_ you, betrayed everyone… frak I think I might've… sabotaged the ship before… how the hell am I supposed to look the others in the eye, after what I did..."

"Boomer, you helped _create_ a Cylon peace movement," Jaden interrupted, "From what I've seen, you've been doing nothing but try to _end_ the Cylon's pursuit of humanity. I believe that tells us all what kind of person you really are."

Boomer looked at Ron, who was still holding his SCAR-H in a ready position. He lowed the weapon and said something in a language none of them understood. "What did he say?"

Adama took off his glasses. "It was Tauron. 'The debt's repaid. Peace is yours'. He won't do anything against Boomer now." Roslin rose an eyebrow. "Really?"

"He's Tauron." Adama said. "they live by a code of honor. Who's in command of this baseship?"

"Since the Hybrid's gone, that duty falls to me." Caprica Six said sighing, "I had enough of those damn thing's ramblings… its even worse than listening to the Two's."

"Hey!" One of the Two's shouted in protest.

"You know its true," The Three said, rolling her eyes.

"I think that's why he left the flashlight. I killed one using a heavy lanturn."

Tigh smiled. "Well, I think we can safely say that the bastard saw a bright light before he died, sir." Adama kept the smile off his face. "If the president agrees, I'd like this baseship to serve as part of the CCE. I think the Colonel would like to take advantage of the secrets on board."

"Damn right I would, sir." He stared at Boomer. "And you... you're on probation. If the CCE clears you, I'll let you back in the fleet." His gaze turned back to Caprica Six. "Do we have a deal?"

Jaden glanced at Caprica Six, and once again saw the Baltar look-alike whispering something into her ear, before she agreed to the conditions. And once again, no one else was noticing this. ' _What the actual FUCK is going on here?!_ ' He thought.

Roslin crossed her arms. "I'm not a fan of this." Sje saod, "But access to Cylon technology is too important to ignore. I'll sell this to the Quorum. Colonel Pinkerton, work with their engineers. See if there's anything you can use."

"With pleasure, madam President."

Jaden waved at Roslin. "Madam President, I'd like to work with him." He said, "I've been having trouble with Cylon tech from our baseship, and Ron's got more experience."

"We're allies, Commander; denying you help would be like nuking GENESIS Alpha." Ron said smirking, "A very bad idea."

"Right..." Jaden said, as he and Ron left the bridge. "Ron, uhh… did you notice anyone… _odd_ around Caprica Six?"

"I saw Gaius Baltar standing beside her, but I ignored it." Ron said shrugging,"I am slightly unstable. Why make myself look crazier?"

"Wait, you saw him two!?" Jaden hissed, "Why didn't you tell me! I thought I was going _mental_ or something!"

"In front of a bunch of Cylons, then the President of the Colonies and my supreme commander? WOW, Jaden, you must REALLY want me to join the Junk guild, because if I said anything, I'D LOSE MY COMMISSION! My skills and my experience are pretty much the only thing, beyond Admiral Avalonia's fondness of me, that are keeping me from getting booted!"

"...alright..." Jaden said, "But… no one else noticed him… so.. what the hell _is_ he? Caprica six obviously was seeing him… "

"Oh, the answer's plain and simple, gentlemen." Ron pulled out his FN -Five-seveN and his revolver, pointing them at the speaker, which turned out to be Gaius Baltar, or whatever was using his form. "The good Colonel here was driven mad by the feelings of hate toward his creations. He's just like you, little boy."

"And you're what, a ghost?"

'Baltar' shrugged. "Oh, my counterpart would call us 'angels of God'." He said. "I prefer...messengers. You broke the cycle between man and machine. I have to say, I'm impressed."

"... _Cycle_?" Jaden asked, "What the _fuck_ are you talking about? And what's all this 'angels' and 'Messengers' crap, what the _fuck_ do you mean by your counterpart, and what the _fuck_ do you mean Ron's like me?"

"You call yourself a 'Newtype'." He explained, "Your friend here blunts his abilities. Normal people can't see us. You 'Newtypes' can no matter what. And my counterpart looks like a Number Six Cylon. The Colonel's seen her slinking around Baltar. As for the cycle...well. It started on Kobol. They made their own Cylons. They rebelled, causing the exodus. I won't bore you with all the details, but you broke the cycle of hate between man and machine, for the most part. As for messengers..." He shrugged again, taking in a puff from his smoke. "We warn and advise when the cycle begins again. Sorry, can't tell you much else: not part of the job."

"So… what, you're like some alien entity that's been watching mankind from the shadows or something?" Jaden asked. "Well, a lot of help _you've_ been."

"Can't do much, kid. Not part of the job." Gaius said, "But we ARE impressed. You know what they are, and you don't care. The Colonel knows, and while he's not fond of boomer, or the bigger idiots, he treats them like everyone else. But Cavil's still around, so...watch out."

He suddenly vanished, and ron sighed. "Remind me to find a way to kill those fraks." Ron said. "come on, let's get to work. We got shit to do."

"Yeah..." Jaden said, sighing before he went to follow Ron. "You Colonials sure have a way to keep things interesting around here..."

* * *

 **Daedalus Crater**

* * *

"Can a ship look so alien, yet so inviting?" Djibril gazed at the Baseship, which, after careful work, was jumped inside the base perimeter, and placed inside the biggest dock they had. "The baseship is healing itself, Director. It appears to be made of an organic resin, and..."

"And?"

"Well, they had more in stock, so we decided to check it out." The Engineer said, "Samples are currently under analysis, but through use of genetic engineering, we can make the compound grow into whatever we want: Mobile Suit parts, warships..."

Djibril grinned at the idea. A cheap method of manufacturing equipment that could put 3D printers to shame. "I like the way you think," he said, "With this combined with the _Charmagne,_ we have placed ourselves _centuries_ ahead of ZAFT, and have technology that the Colonials have yet to reproduce."

"They still have access to FTL technology, and with Orb's aid, sir, they have at least three new warships on the way."

"Not a problem. Have the baseship repaired, and replace whatever this...Hybrid thing is with a more reliable control system. See if you can reproduce those Raiders' CPUs as well. The X1 needs a proper control unit." "Sir, the boys at Actaeon have decided to give that...monster a name." Djibril poured himself a glass of wine, looking back at the engineer.

"And?"

"They're calling it the 'Destroy', sir. It should be ready within 10 months."

"Excellent." Djibril said, "It'll be much easier to control than one of the Extended Biological CPU's, after what happened to the first three."

"Yes, sir, they ended up falling into the hands of the Colonial fleet. They had a field day with them, if I remember."

All three had ended up surviving their attack on Galactica, and were in medical care on the Colonial hospital ship Rising Star, and were being used as Mutura Azrael's 'pet attack dogs, drained of all human dignity'. Djibril had to move operations to Arzachel Crater just to maintain SOME sort of secrecy. For all the world knew, those three were one offs.

* * *

 **Colonial medical ship** _ **Rising Star**_

* * *

Will had taken some leave to visit the crazed MS pilots that suicidally attacked Galactica at Jachin Due. He was at first reluctant, given what the doctors tending them told him, how they were subjected to many forms of experimentation, including what he recognized was an illegal combat drug, Gamma Gliphetin, a very potent, and very dangerous mix of other dangerous drugs, including Meth. Will shuddered, remembering reading a file about the drug, and how painfully lethal the withdrawal was, if the victim was not given regular doses. He last heard the Atlantic Federal Army used the damn stuff to make the troops fearless, but it turned them into homicidal psychotics instead, so the drug was shelved and sealed into where it wouldn't be used again.

Clearly, Blue Cosmos decided to pull it out.

Thankfully, the colonials had some experience with a similar drug: XGG98-YE97Q. It was used on a number of Colonial Marines, turning them into 'supersoldiers', at the price of nearly killing them within 48 hours without treatment or more of the substance.

The antidote, thankfully, was nearly the same, and once it was given, the 'Extended' pilots were more or less back to normal. And after a few dozen surgeries, they were on the road to recovery, as shown by one playing with a game system in his bed. "Hey. You with those 'Colonial' guys or something?"

"I am," Will said, "Though I _was_ with OMNI Enforcer, until their BC Bosses ordered them to nuke a set of Colonies, so I defected. Good riddance in my book."

"Huh. Well, these guys are nice. That Cottle guy's a pain in the ass, but he's a good pain in the ass. Better than the doctors from the Dominion." Which were floating in the vacuum, courtesy of the President's unholy rage.

"So, these guys are fixing up our old Mobile Suits. I don't want anyone but me flying my Raider. And I don't want to fly with anyone but Chani and Orga." "Aww, I didn't think you CARED." Clotho looked at Shani. "You're assholes. Both of you. But you're MY assholes. And these guys saved us."

Will only smirked as he shook his headamusedly, "Well, I hope you guys don't mind a new member, because I've been assigned by the Admiral to command you three, as possibly the start of a whole new MS Squadron," he said, gaining curious looks from the three former B-CPUs, "I'm actually of almost the ENTIRE BV War, from Yggdrasil all the way to Jachin Due, fought on both Earth and in Space, even got myself a moniker: The Direwolf of Nova,"

Orga leaned back into his bed. "Well, the docs and those 'Viper' pilots call us the 'Druggies'. Didn't sound like they were mockin' us. Guess they like us, specially that Starbuck lady. She visits a lot." Will had heard from the Admiral that Starbuck had been abused as a kid: beatings, broken fingers, things like that. It was not surprising that she'd bond with the three. "Well, they're gonna be lettin' us our soon. So what's this ship like? Galactica, was it?"

Will raised an eyebrow, while thinking for a moment.

"Well, it's big for one... bigger than any ship in both the EA and ZAFT at the moment," he said, before frowning a bit, "At least not until a while ago,"

"What's that supposed to-" The ship rocked for a moment before they looked out one of the ship's outer windows. A massive form moved past the Rising Star, with a word forming as it passed: Galactica BS-75.

"Uh...fuck me. That thing's HUGE." "Yeah, you should see Pegasus. BIGGER." The idea of a ship bigger then the one flying past was...scary. "SERIOUSLY?! There's something BIGGER then that thing?!"

"Yeah...," said Will, "...So what do you say joining what shall be soon, my squadron? And when we get enough experience, and some new members, you guys could possibly train the Rookies...Just, don't scare them too much, okay?"

"No promises."

* * *

The GAT-X series Mobile Suits were a pain in the ass to fix, but were things of beauty once they were. The three machines were repaired, rearmed and ready to fight, along with the recently fixed ZGMF-X13A Providence. But no one could fly it: the DRAGOONs were impossible to use. "So, that new thing the Junk guild gave us ready, Cally?" Cally looked at Tyrol as the Raptor from the Rising Star entered the hangar. "Yup. Captain Redington's gonna love it."

The Raptor's hatch opened, and Will stepped blinking as he saw Chief Tyrol waving him over. He immediately went over toward the mechanic, wanting know what the hubbub is about.

"What's up, Chief?" he queried.

"Junk Guild sent over a new Mobile Suit. Some prototype that the Alliance decided to ditch in favor of something more like those 105 Daggers." Tyrol pointed at a Mobile Suit. "It's over there."

Will blinked and looked over and his eyes widened at seeing the Mobile Suit standing before him. It was colored like most EA mobile Suits Blue torso, shoulders, and head, with some red trim, and white limbs. However, he noticed numerous design features that were different from the Strike and 105 variants of the Dagger series, and there were a lot of them.

"Whoa...," he said, "It looks better armed than the previous models, and the EA _ditched_ it!?"

"Yeah, the Colonel said Commander Takeo said the same thing. The boys on the Zhurong are planning on putting it into production as a stop-gap MS until the colonel comes up with something else. He called that thing the Gladius, and said it was for you, too."

Will snapped his head back to Tyrol before he immediately looking back at the Gladius, and slowly a creepy smirk formed on his face, which unnerved both Cally and Tyrol, "Tell Commander Takeo and the Colonel, I accept, and I owe them a BIG bottle of whiskey," he said, and walked over to the Mobile Suit and placed a hand on the foot, "You and I are gonna have loads of fun my friend. But first, a new paintjob,"

"Yeah, never saw the point in that." He gestured to the Vipers, were, other then squadron markings, were all uniformly white and red or gray-blue. "But if you wanna paint the fraking thing, strip the coat on it off, first. Do you know how much paint you need to coat the fraking thing?"

Will turned to him, and again the two Colonial Mechanics could swear they felt dread when he smirked.

"I know Chief, and let's just say you and your people are gonna be working some major overtime," he said, and Tyrol only sighed.

"Why did I have to open my big mouth?" he exasperatedly groaned.

Alarms went off as a set of crates entered through the airlock. "What's that?" "Oh, more crap from Delta Canopis. CCE's been shippin' it in like crazy."

the knuckledraggers opened the containers, and several went into them before pushing out a black fighter that looked much like the mk II Viper, but all black, with V-shaped wings and a butterfly tail. Both of the ship's two autocannons jutted out of the fuselage, but looked like they could be retracted back into the body of the fighter.

Wil let out a low whistle "Not bad," he said, "Any idea what it is though?"

"I think it's a modified Mk IV Viper. Not many of the things were made before they were retired. Fours were a spin on the design: retracting wings and guns for extra speed in atmo. Reduced the DRADIS signature, too. CCE boys call them Ravens: some kinda stealth fighter, like my Blackbird was."

A deadpan expression formed on Will's face, "And let me guess, the brainiac behind the idea of decommissioning them is...?"

Tyrol sighed, "Yup, Adar," he said. "We didn't need them anymore, so said the moron, so...they got scrapped a few years before the Fall. They WERE forty year old planes, though: DRADIS evolved to see it in stealth mode." Tyrol grabbed a note attached to the first plane. "'Refit with Terran tech; don't push the white button, Colonel Pinkerton'."

The three only blinked at before Will decided to take a look for himself, and saw the said white button.

"I wonder what the Colonel added that would have him spooked?" he said as he reached to press the button.

The second he did, the fighter began to disappear, and he recoiled, instinct kicking in as fear of the unknown made him and half the knuckledraggers curse. "Frak me, he made it turn INVISIBLE?" Tyrol shook his head. "What's next, me turning out to be a Cylon?" Cally gently hit Tyrol over the head with a spanner. "Stop talking crazy, Chief. Now how do we turn it off without blowing up half the ship?"

"Good thing the cockpit isn't affected," Will said, as he looked back at the panel where the White Button was, and then saw a yellow button next to it with the words "EMERGENCY SHUT OFF" written under it.

"How obvious," said Will with a roll of the eyes and pressed the button, and then the stealth system shut off, "Looks like he added a modified version of Mirage Colloid to the damn thing,"

"Yeah, that invisible stuff. Puts out some magnetic field that makes you invisible, right?"

Cally shook her head. "We tested that stuff using one of the GINNs: you couldn't see it with mark one eyeball, but you were visible on DRADIS!"

Will blinked. "Huh? how?"

"DRADIS isn't just one thing. It's radar, EM scanners, magnetic sensor equipment, IR sensors. The bigger the bird, the more powerful the array."

Will only blinked, "Well holy shit, I guess the guys who designed the Mirage Colloid, need to work _a little bit more_ if they want counter DRADIS," he said.

Tyrol facepalmed before he started laughing. "Or make the thing using it smaller! A 60-foot robot puts out a big field, big enough to be a fraking giant on DRADIS. But this thing?" He pointed at the comically tiny Raven. "This thing's TINY: 10, 15 feet at the most. DRADIS can't pick anything with that weak a field up. So I guess fighters just kicked your giant robot's ass."

Will gave the Chief Mechanic a scowl at that.

"Don't count Mobile Suits out yet, Chief," he said, "The reason the EA is replacing space fighters like the Moebius is because of Mobile Suits. I should know, I was at Yggdrasil, First Jachin, Nova, and Endymion, and let me tell you, those MA's are just flying tin cans for target practice. Don't believe me? Tell that to the 15 Moebius units I originally flew,"

"Just sayin', my Vipers kicked the shit out of those things at Jachin due and that Raven can't be picked up outside the background magnetic crap. Mobile Suits got their niche, Vipers have theirs. And the day one of those things replaces Raptors and Vipers is a LOT way away. Plus, your big thing's gonna be our mainstay until the Colonel gets something better."

"Right," he said, "At least they're better than the Strike Dagger, especially after their damn bloody debut at Panama...,"

Chief Tyrol blinked, "Panama?" he said.

"ZAFT disabled EVERY Dagger there using an EMP."

"So...you guys got fraked over from lack of properly shielded equipment? Who the hell is in charge of your R&D department, a fraking monkey? Oh, wait. We got screwed by the CNP, so who are we to talk."

Will chuckled at that, "It's alright. Anyway, after the Strike Daggers became nothing more than oversized dolls, the ZAFT pilots went blood drunk and started shooting them up with the pilots trapped inside like sitting ducks, along with everyone else at the base," he said, his fist clenching at the memory, "The reason I'm still here today, was because I was the only Lucky fucking asshole to have a fully functional 105 Dagger which had a PROPER EMP shield. I did the best the best I could, but I couldn't do anything to save any of my squad members, since I was the only one EA MS still moving."

"Hey, you got problems with it, talk to the doc at Ptolemaeus. Shrinks can help." " _Raptor 498 inbound. Repeat, Raptor 498 inbound_." "And that's the Colonel. Take that Raptor to the base, talk to that shrink. Gods know you'll need it."

"Yeah..." Will said, and began walking toward the Raptor as Ron stepped out, Will saluted him and Ron returned it, but noticed the slight doom and gloom look.

"Colonel. What's with the...well, aura of death?" "I'll give you a hint. You used to frak her." He pointed at Cally. "And you shot her."

Tyrol blinked and shook his head slightly, leaning back a bit. "Boomer?" "A Cylon baseship jumped into the military fleet at Jupiter. Boomer was on board. I nearly shot her. The Old Man nearly killed her. I'm surprised he didn't tell you."

"Uh, no. He just rushed past us when he came back on board. Same with the XO." "now you know why. Jaden and I have a meeting with the Admiral, Chief. Excuse us, and don't touch the white buttons in those things: you won't find them until the battery runs dry, and that won't happen for...days."

With that, Ron began to walk, as Tyrol and Cally to sweat nervously.

"You think we shou-MMPH!" she began to say before a hand clamped on her mouth.

"If the Old Man didn't kill her, we won't. And you know that guy: he's Tauron. blood for blood, and he let her live. Let's get back to work, Specialist. We got a robot to paint and fighters to set up."

* * *

Adama stared at Jaden and ron. "What?"

"Organic battlestars." Ron elaborated, "I can rework the resin, make it grow into whatever the hell we like. Think of it, sir: battlestars that fix their internal damage, things we don't consider. Ships that grow themselves, and we just add the internal fixings, like FTLs, weapons, life support, armor."

"And that's just the start." Jaden said, "We could use it to even recreate food and water for not just the crews, eventually we could use it for more domestic use, hell with this stuff world hunger would become a thing of the past! And no more reason to worry about supply shortages so long as more resin can be made, which the ships would _make themselves_."

Adama shook his head. "you two are insane. Start small, gentlemen."

"I'm already starting on making Mk VIIs using the stuff, sir." Ron said, "Jaden's got a few ideas, too."

"Working on using it to make a few Raysta's, as well as some simple foods and such." Jaden said, "It takes a while for the Raysta's obviously, though its very fast when creating pure organic materials for food. We should have a full Raysta by the end of the week, and full pieces of food can be created within a few hours… granted you still need to cook it and such… working on that."

Adama looked fairly disgusted at that suggestion. Ron noticed. "We think we can make it a lot more palatable then it sounds, Admiral. It's going to take a LOT more work then Jaden thinks, but it's doable. My immediate plan was to speed up construction of the Amaterasu-Class heavy cruisers using the resin. Orb DOES need those ships quickly."

"Agreed." Jaden said, "I've been working up a plan with them… there is a high chance the Serians may usurp power of Orb from Cagalli soon, so I think its prudent we prepare for when - or if - it happens, when Cagalli makes her move to retake control… she has a task force of _Amaterasu's_ at her disposal to dissuade any EA or ZAFT forces."

"Orb will finish construction of the _Ryujin_ and _Suijin_ by the end of the year. By that time, the Delta Canopis yards should be ready to build the ships, correct, Colonel?"

"Yes, sir. We've already begun modifying the yard to accept modern equipment. Though I'm still a little unnerved. We know the CCE built the stations there, but why? We don't build outposts in the middle of nowhere unless-"

"Unless the Cylons were there, too." Adama said nodding. "I'm ordering _Valkyrie_ to find out. You and _Yashuman_ will head back to the Colonies."

"Wait, you're telling me you don't remember _why_ you built Canopis there?" Jaden asked in confusion, "Didn't you say it was just a shipyard for Pre-Cylon War ships to be refit later?"

"For the most part, yes." Ron said, "But we wouldn't put an outpost _that_ far away from Cylon front lines… there had to be something there the old CCE was interested in, and the only thing _we_ can think of is something involving Cylons… or aliens, but I _highly_ doubt that one."

"I damn well hope so. If we run into aliens, I'm resigning and putting Tigh in command." Both men paled at THAT, remembering the reports from the aftermath of the boomer incident.

"Bad idea, sir." Ron said, "I'll get some legion members on _Yashuman_ , set up an outpost at the closest system to the Veil. Just hope _Osiris_ doesn't mind us being there."

"Osiris?"

Adama looked at Jaden. "A pocket battlestar, Orion-Class." He said, "She was destroyed during the Ghost Fleet Offensive."

"Alright… I'll have some junk guild members join _Yashuman_ as well, help set things up." Jaden said, "Give them something to do, plus it'll help get them accustomed to working outside our solar system."

"Hope you know how to ski."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

Adama scoffed. "Osiris was destroyed over a former resort planet just outside Cyrannus." He said, "I crash landed my Raptor there shortly afterward. And I'd watch myself if I were you: during the war, the Cylons used Djerba as a biological research base. No telling what the hell is still down there."

"After 40 years, I doubt there would be much left." Jaden said, "But either way, you know me: I go nowhere without a gun handy… especially when going to an alien world which may or may not be crawling with advance death dealing machines."

* * *

"You're happy." Luna smirked as she spun around in her junior officer's uniform. Navy blue with white piping and the rank pins of a 1st Lieutenant, she wore it with pride. Shinn wore a similar uniform, only the uniform jacket was undone, showing off his undershirt and dogtags.

"Of course! We're nearly done our first combat tour!" The two pilots were waiting to be taken off the ship and sent back to Armory One. Julie, meanwhile was there only to say goodbye: she had accepted a formal commission within the Colonial fleet as a pilot on board the _Amaterasu_.

"Oi!" All three spun around to see Ron standing there, looking a bit annoyed. "Get on the Raptor. I've got a mission to deal with and I need pilots."

"Yes sir!" Luna shouted enthusiastically, before running towards the Raptor. Shinn sighed, as he followed.

"So, what are we being drafted into this time, sir?" He asked.

"We're heading to Yashuman." he explained. "There's a base that needs setting up at Djerba."

Luna stiffened at the mentioning of that world.

"Uh, Luna?"

"That's a VERY bad place, Shinn." Luna said, recalling what she knew on Colonial history on the planet. "Cylons did scary shit there: cybernetic alterations, mind control. They even blew up a battlestar there."

"The commander of the _Osiris_ was an idiot." Ron said, as he entered the Raptor. "She made a suicide attack against that baseship instead of jumping away and waiting a couple of days for it to go away. Killed 180 people for nothing." Ron guided the raptor off the deck as it entered the black, heading for the tiny _Valkyrie_ -Class ship off _Galactica's_ bow.

"Here's hoping that planet's abandoned..." Shinn muttered, as their Raptor approached the Battlestar's port flight pod.

"Raptor 498, requesting permission to land." "Raptor 498, permission granted." The Raptor landed in the pod, and was taken into the ship.

* * *

 **Djerba system**

* * *

 _Yashuman_ appeared in orbit of the resort, gliding past a piece of the baseship that caused the death of the Osiris. Jaden and Ron stood in CIC, looking at something on DRADIS that WASN'T supposed to be there. "That..." Ron indicated the contact IDed as 'Orbital Colony D87' on DRADIS. "Is not supposed to be here."

"Is that..." Jaden said, as he looked at the visuals. "Is that an Island-3 Closed Type?"

"Yes… well, our equivalent to one anyways..." Ron said, "What in the hell is it doing _here_ though?"

"Didn't you say you stopped using colonies?" Jaden asked.

"We DID, for the most part." Ron said, "Mothballed them, put a couple of battlestars on local defense. We had over a billion people in space, so some genius must've herded them all to this colony and jumped it here."

"A BILLION?" Jaden asked, "Seriously? on passenger ships?"

"You have no IDEA how commonplace space travel is to us." Ron said shrugging, "For you, it's kinda expensive. For us, couple hundred cubits and you've got a seat on a ship. So, yeah, we had billions of people in space at any one time."

"Fuck… remind me to try and copy whatever _you_ did back on earth." Jaden said, "Less people on earth, less problem of overpopulation… so do we know if… whoever is on that thing, knows we're here?"

"Well, DRADIS makes your sensor tech look bad." Ron said, before looking at the _Yashuman_ 's CO. "Commander, permission to hail the rogue?"

"Your mission, Colonel." He said, shrugging as Ron picked up the handset. "This is Colonel Ronald Pinkreton on Yashuman to orbital habitat D87. Please respond."

Static was their answer until they heard a woman's voice. " _Oh, thank the lords of Kobol! They came!_ " "Miss? Miss, what's happening?" A scream was heard before the line cut out. "Either she hung up on me, or there's something WRONG on that colony."

"Couldn't agree more." Jaden said, "I'll get a team ready, meet you in the port hangar bay on a Raptor. I don't think we're dealing with Cylons, but just in case I'm bringing some new rifles I designed. They're not lasers, but if there _are_ Centurions onboard, I'm pretty sure 7.62x51mm Full Metal Jacket Armor Piercing rounds should do the trick."

"I'll have the Marines grab them. Commander, I don't think I need to tell you-"

"Condition One? Already on it." Alarms started going off on board as the two left CIC.

* * *

Luna was in a flight suit and in her Mk VII within 20 seconds of the alarms going off. A feat few could manage, as Shinn was tripping over himself getting his legs in place. "I wasn't expecting a battle!"

"None of us were, but you know the drill, Shinn: Condition one goes off, we get to our birds!" Luna said, strapping her helmet on. "Habu, standing by."

" _Habu, Takeo here._ " Jaden's voice said on the Comm. " _You and the Vipers will be flying escort for our Raptors. There's a Colonial Island-3 colony out there, and a transmission sent tells us not all is right in there. Me and Ron will be leading Marines and Commando's onboard to figure out what in the hell is going on in there. If they send defenders, you know what to do - just keep our Raptors in one piece._ "

"What we're on guard duty?" Shinn asked.

" _Orphan, Psycho: your tour is three days from being over. This is a milk run for you, so don't complain._ " Both vipers were shot into the black, following a Raptor.

"ETA to the colony is 5 minutes, 21 seconds."

When they closed in, they received a transmission. " _I'm sorry, but no one is allowed to enter my private kingdom. Go away._ " Missile warnings began blaring in their headsets. "SON OF A BITCH!"

" _Evasives!_ " Jaden shouted, as the Raptor and Vipers quickly maneuvered, avoiding the missiles fired their way. " _Alright asshole, you wanna play hardball? We'll play motherfucking HARDBALL! Orphan, Habu, cover us as we make our approach! Prepping ECM for anymore missiles._ Yashuman _, please clear Raysta Team Alpha to deploy!_ "

" _I've been wanting them off my deck since they came on board!_ " The five suit team deployed from the battlestar, and the three craft began their approach, which was brightly lit.

Overly so by flak rounds.

" _Orphan, Habu, Psycho: latch onto the Raptor! I'm jumping us into the colony!_ "

"Will that even WORK?!"

" _I designed this thing! what do you think?!_ "

" _How do you know we won't jump INSIDE A BUILDING?!_ "Jaden shouted. " _I heard what happened to that damn Battlestar!_ "

"This isn't a battlestar!" Both vipers latched onto the Raptor's top and bottom before it jumped away.

* * *

 **Inside the colony**

* * *

Colony D87 was run by a man who could only be described as the Colonial equivalent of Yuna Roma Seiran, only more narcissistic.

He ran his colony with an iron fist and the guns of his security force. And Michael Rolland made DAMN sure everyone knew it. Said person was shouting orders to his security forces, until all of a sudden the Vipers and the Raptor disappeared, only to reappear inside the colony.

"Get those defense fighters off the ground! I want that Raptor shot down! No one must take my kingdom away!" "Yes, sir."

A number of ANCIENT Caprican Air Force fighters, precursors to the Viper Mk I, were launched into the air, heading for the three craft.

* * *

"Well, at least the interior didn't change on me."

"That's no excuse!"

"Jaden, I'm juggling maintaining a zero-g field for the Vipers' maglocks, flying this thing and trying not to jump into a building using analogue controls! YOU try doing that!"

"Well I-" Jaden began, before he looked out the window, seeing a bunch of jet-powered aircraft flying their way. "...The Fuck is this shit? _That's_ their defenses? Habu, Orphan, would you kindly smack those guys out of the sky please?"

"Disengaging mag locks." Ron said, "Grav field back to normal!" The Raptor flipped over, dumping both fighters into the attack. "We retired those things DECADES ago. It's going to be a slaughter."

Both Mk VIIs fired at the pre-unification fighters, their two 30mm cannons tearing the lead craft apart before the dogfighting began. "And this is a milk run. What the frak am I saying? Colonial Fleet. There's no such thing as a milk run!"

"I see a good landing zone there," Jaden said, pointing to a small clearing in a city square, "Me and the Marines can offload and secure the area, while you head back outside. I think we're gonna need more men to secure this whole place."

"I'll coordinate with Yashuman!" Ron shouted, "Get down there: I'll bring in the rest of the Marines!" The hatch opened, and the Marines threw out rappelling lines. "GO GO GO!"

The Colonial and JG Marines all rapelled down to the ground from the Raptor, Jaden being the last as he simply hopped out in his Warsuit, using its thrusters to gently touch the ground. He then pulled out his own weapon - the CM5D Assault Rifle, one weapon among multiple he had designed for the Colonials to replace their 21st century-era weapons.

The marines hit the ground, making a circle formation, keeping their eyes on the surroundings, as Civilians nearby began looking for cover inside buildings and behind cars. "Touchdown complete," Jaden informed, "We're good here Ron, Get back here as soon as you can."

" _Wilco - Psycho out._ " The Raptor jumped away as the old CAF fighters chased the modern Mk VIIs, only to get mowed down by the trans-atmospheric fighters' superior agility and firepower. " _We can shoot them down, but they've got hundreds of the damn things and we've only got a few thousand bullets!_ "

"You've got superior mobility and agility - make e'm crash into each other if you have too." Jaden informed, as he made a hand sign forming the Marines up. "Now… if I was an egotistical leader - and I'm not - I would be… _there._ " He pointed towards the largest building in the city, complete with several statues around it. And also seemingly with the most guards. "Let's scout it out people - double time it! I ain't getting paid by the hour here!"

"You heard the man! Move!" The Marine squad began moving through the streets as machine gun fire rained on them from one of the buildings, mostly 7.62mm rounds from an LMG. Which was a piss off for the Marines: they weren't expecting to run from building to building dodging bullets: they didn't have the protection to do just that.

Thankfully, the incompatent pilots, in their attempts to shoot Shinn and Luna down, gave unwilling and indirect support to the Marines by firing 20mm cannon shells into the buildings before more Raptors jumped in. " _Psycho to ground team: reinforcements inbound! Where do you want them?_ "

"We're heading towards the largest building here!" Jaden informed as he took cover behind a pillar to avoid the gunshots. "I think that's where whoever it leading this colony is at. I think we deserve a few answers from this asshole, now don't you?"

" _You and everyone on_ Yashuman!" An explosion ruptured one of the colony walls in a cleared sector, allowing Viper reinforcements to enter the colony. " _Relax, kid: our colonies have AG fields that keep the atmosphere in in case of a small scale breach. Don't want to cause too many of those, though, or the atmo WILL bleed out. I'll head to the building you indicated; wish me luck!_ " Ron's raptor moved towards the heavily defended building complex, dodging AA fire.

"Seriously..." Jaden muttered, shaking his head as he came out of cover, firing at the defending forces. " _Tell me_ these things before you do shit like that… Move up Marines!" With that, he and the Marines continued to advance, taking cover where they can as they advanced towards the building.

* * *

Ego makes an idiot do strange things as Rollman proved by simply sitting on his little throne inside the old administration building turned palace. During the fall, ship captains had fled to the orbital colony, ignoring Case Orange protocols in lieu of self-preservation. the two battlestars had fled to join the attack on the Colonies, allowing the ships to dock without incident.

When the over 600 large capacity passenger liners, which had over 2000 people on board each arrived, space in the colony became strained. That was when the egomaniac decided to make him and his pose known. Rollman took over the colony years ago, using money laundered by the Ha'la'tha to finance his troops. He put them in what amounted to little more then prison cells and jumped the colony out of Cyrannus, taking over 12 million people with him to the abandoned resort planet.

the Cylons wouldn't find them there: no one WENT to Djerba anymore, and the Colonies were gone. He could do as he wished.

Until _Yashuman_ showed up and ruined THAT plan.

' _It matters little..._ ' he thought, ' _My troops can fight them off, and then I'll be back enjoying-_ ' at that moment, there was a knock on the door.

"Who's there?" He said.

" _Kung._ " A voice replied, causing him to raise an eyebrow.

"Kung who?" He asked, before the door was kicked open, and Jaden Takeo stepped inside with his Warsuit armor, hs CM5D assault rifle raised.

"Kung Fu!" He shouted. "Hands where I can see them, dirtbag!"

A smart man would know when he was screwed and simply surrendered. Rollman was not smart. He opened fire on Jaden, but 9mm bullets weren't effective against heavy luna titanium alloy plating. It would take the main guns on _Valkyrie_ or _Yashuman_ to do the job.

"Wha...what are you?"

Jaden smirked, before he altered his voice to be a bit more gravely and low-toned. "I'm Batman." He said, causing Rollman to blink in confusion.

"Bat...man?" He asked.

"Nah, just kidding - Jaden Takeo, Junk Guild… and your worse fucking nightmare." Jaden said as he approached the man. "You have the right to remain silence, anything you say yadda-yadda-yadda, time to go night-night."

"No, wait-" He began to say, before Jaden grabbed him from behind the head, and slammed his face against his little throne, knocking him out. "Takeo here - target has been subdued - with prejudice might I add."

" _Suck to be him._ " Ron said, " _Raptor went back to Sol a few minutes ago: the Old Man's going to be coming here in a few hours. And the President's coming with him. Better get a head count, kid: I'm goin on colony repair duty. This should be interesting._ "

"Got it - I'll see what I can dig up here." Jaden said, as he dragged the man away, being as rough as possible. "I'll bring this guy downstairs first. _This_ will be fun."

* * *

 **Several Hours Later**

* * *

 _Galactica_ jumped into orbit of Djerba, coming alongside the 90-year old reinforced colony with _Colonial One_ alongside. And Adama was not pleased. "How many people are inside that tin can?" He asked on the wireless.

" _About 150 million, at last count._ " Ron reported, " _There was a lot of ship traffic the day of the fall, sir: estimates put at least 600 million souls in space during the nuclear strikes on the Colonies._ "

Adama was not happy that a bunch of mobsters and pirates had been holing up hundreds of millions of people in a colony barely designed for 20 million. "Packed in like a bunch of sardines." Saul said, "The President's gonna ride hell on this."

"Colonel Tigh, set up a Marine escort for the President." Adama said, "She wants to go to that tin can and make sure those people are cared for. Colonel Pinkerton, can you get Commander Takeo on the horn?"

" _Hang on a second, sir._ " Ron said. There was a short pause before Jaden came on the line.

" _Takeo here, yes Admiral Adama?_ "

"Did the idiots send anyone down to the surface while they were here?" He asked. "The Cylons did have a relay here, as well as a biological research base."

" _We checked, sir: stupid as they were, no one went down there._ " Jaden informed. " _Guess the dick in charge wanted to found his own dynasty or some shit: the apocalypse does strange things to people._ "

"Prep the FTL drive for a jump back to Earth." Adama said, "I want these people looked at by as many doctors as we can find."

" _Already working on it, sir._ " Jaden said, " _We should be able to jump her back to Sol within the hour. You want us to jump this thing in Jupiter Sphere with the rest of your fleet, or in the Earth Sphere?_ "

"that's up to the president. Continue preparations. ACtual out." Adama hung up the handset, and Tigh winced. "Not a fan of being here?"

"This place has always been a bad mark for me. I'll be glad to leave it."

* * *

 **Daedalus Crater**

* * *

"The baseship seems to be taking the new graphs perfectly, Director. We should be able to fit the beam cannon turrets in a few weeks." Djibril was too busy staring at the baseship to care about the repair reports. "What about the FTL drive? can you repair it?"

"I believe we can," the engineer said, "We've managed to access the files onboard the Baseship, as well as learn quite a bit from the functioning FTL drives from the Raiders. We've got a good idea how to get the Baseship's up and running, but it will still take some time. I estimate it'll take about two weeks until we can test a full FTL Jump."

"And the raiders themselves?" Djibril asked.

"Why do you ask, sir?" The Engineer asked. "The raiders are inferior to our Mobile Suits."

"Perhaps." The Director said nodding, "But the brains are useful. More intelligent than the Centurion units, from the reports I've read."

"Yes, sir. We DID recover a raider with a living biological computer." The engineer informed, "No engines, weapons or FTL drive, but it was fine. Why do you ask?"

"I want you to do some… experiments with the Raider's brains." He informed, "See if they can be manufactured for… Earth Forces use. If such a brain can operate a Fighter, then it should be more than capable of doing the same for a Mobile Suit."

"Yes, sir." The head of blue Cosmos chuckled to himself. "I don't trust the Extendeds. The first generation failed because of drugs. I want something more reliable. The Raiders obey. So do the Centurions. Tell Mr. Azrael to have the gentlemen at Actaeon to modify their Destroy plans."

"It shall be done."

* * *

 **GENESIS Alpha**

* * *

"You sure about this?" Jaden said as he looked at the intel reports he was handed.

"Yeah." the JG member informed, "We've seen a lot of EA activity in that area, and we've confirmed Bruno Azrael and his brother have visited this place several times during the last war. I think its worth checking out at least."

Jaden nodded "I agree." He said, "Send word that I want Falcon and Copperhead squads from the _Val Gorge_ on standby. I'll inform the CCE."

"Yes sir." The JG member said, before he left Jaden's office. He then activated the Comm, turning his chair around to face the main monitor. "Get me a secured link to Colonel Pinkerton."

" _Secure link to: Battlestar_ Pegasus. _Connected._ " The purple and silver BSG logo for Battlestar Group 62 appeared on the monitor before ron's face appeared. " _Pinkerton h-oh, Jaden. I was in CIC, helping coordinate_ Pegasus' _retrofit. What's up?_ "

"Ron, just got some Intel here." Jaden said, "I fought a possible Blue Cosmos base we should check out in Europe, some place called Lodonia Labs. My guys told me they've got reports of both Bruno _and_ Muruta Azrael arriving at this base in the past. If _they're_ interested in whatever this place is, it gives us all the reason to see what their doing. I was hoping you or one might be available for a little field trip there."

" _Well, I've got a few hundred CCE engineers working on the refit, and I don't need to micromanage-_ "

" _RONNIE!_ "

" _Oh, Gods. I'll be there soon!_ " The link cut off, showing _Pegasus'_ purple and silver Colonial starbird emblem.

Jaden chuckled a bit as he turned the link off. ' _Glad I don't have anyone chasing me like that,_ ' he thought as he got up and left, ' _Not that many girls interested in this kind of stuff anyways._ '

* * *

 **Several Days Later - Greece**

* * *

A large Colonial craft flew towards the island, the chin mounted turret making sweeps of the forward arc. "Rhino 041 to Junk Guild shuttle Alpha: area seems to be clear. I'll maintain a CAP to make sure it stay that way."

" _Rodger that Rhino 041, Shuttle Alpha commencing drop._ " The Iron Fist dropship flew forward towards the island of Crete, carrying three full squads of soldiers including Junk Guild and Colonial marines. Jaden also inside along with Ron.

"We'll land a few klicks away from the facility under the radar," Jaden said, as he pointed out a holographic map of the area. "They've got a fair amount of defenses in place, but from what intel we've gathered, they're not prepared for anything like a full-scale infiltration of this level. Stick to silencers and no sudden movements once we've hit the dirt. No telling what they have _inside_ the base, so be ready for anything."

"Understood. We're on the move." THe Marines began moving out, heading toward the facility. The place appeared to be abandoned: no lights, no personnel. Not even a watchdog. "This is getting freaky, Sarge."

"Knock it off, Hudson. Commander, what do you think? Trap?"

Jaden shook his head "No… too obvious." He said, "If this was a trap, they'd have a _few_ guards to make this place look normal… but something ain't right here… Captain Pierce, take Falcon squad along the left flank. Wheeler, take Copperhead along the right, rest of us will move down the center towards the base. Keep your eyes peeled for anything - and for fucks sake look out for mines!"

"Yeah, no one's in the mood for surgery."

" _Rhino 041 to ground team: I'm picking up a squad of Mobile Suits approaching the island, bearing 148, Angels 9. Looks to be a standard CAP using those new Jet packs. They haven't seen my craft yet, and I'd like to keep it that way, so make this quick!_ "

"Roger that Rhino 041." Jaden said, "Fall back and stay out of their sensor range, we'll radio in when we're ready for pickup."

"Wilco, ground team. This thing ain't agile, so you'd better hope they don't see me!"

The wireless went silent as the Rhino moved away from the island. "Great." Hudson said, "What if we run into an APC or something? We've not packing heavy weapons, here!"

"Shut it, Hudson! you're ghosting us!"

The teams continued to advance on the facility, yet still encountering no resistance before they reached the entrance to the base. "begin door breach." Jaden said, as the Marines positioned themselves around. "Breaching!"

The door exploded in a shower of steel shrapnel, but there was no alarm, no reaction, no nothing. "frak me, if this is a trap, then we DESERVE to fall for it." Hudson said, as they entered the building. "No one's here!"

Mathias tapped her earpiece. "Rhino 041, ground force: we're inside the building." she said, "Negative contacts. We're proceeding inside."

" _Confirmed, Sergeant. Be advised, I've got ANOTHER MS CAP inbound. I may need to jump back to_ Pegasus _to avoid detection._ "

"Copy, sir." The _Pegasus_ Marine Corps commander looked to Jaden. "We're in deep shit if they find that Rhino, sir."

"They won't - Rhino 041, your cleared to jump out of here if you need to." Jaden said, "We've still got Shuttle Alpha hidden away."

The team continued to advance through the facility, weapons at the ready, however they continued to find anyone inside. "Where is everyone…?" one of the Marines asked.

"This doesn't make any-" another was about to say, before Jaden raised his hand, commanding them to stop before he pointed his head where a dead body lied on the ground. "...Frak..."

Jaden approached the corpse first, inspecting it. "Looks like he's been dead for a few days..." he said, before he blinked as he looked at the face. "The Fuck…? Its a kid!"

Mathias pulled out her knife, checking it the body had been booby traped with a mine. "That's not necessary, Sarge." Hudson said.

"Blue Cosmos is depraved enough to kill children in cold blood, so I'd say it is, Corporal." She said, "Fraking bastards are no better then the toasters." She flipped the corpse over, revealing that it was a girl, roughly 12 years old. Scar tissue was all over her body, and one of the eyes was a milky white. "Frak, a half-blind kid? Who does this?"

"Uhh...g-guys..." Another marine said, stepping out of one of the rooms. "You… might want to see this..."

the team looked at one another, before they entered the room he had just come out of… and their eyes widened when they discovered the entire room was littered with bodies, some in lab coats, but most of them were just children, the floor covered with blood.

"Great Apollo, who would DO this?"

"Fraking Cylons would. Remember the Old Man's horror story about Operation Raptor Talon?" No one wanted to remember the story Adama told everyone about Operation Raptor Talon and what he found on that moon. "Get Rhino 041 on the horn. We need Raptor teams down here."

Hudson pulled out the wireless set on his back and activated the heavy duty transceiver. "Rhino 041, ground team: request that you jump to Pegasus and request additional ground teams."

" _Yeah, I'm a little busy-FRAK! The second MS team found me and they're taking potshots at the Rhino! Damn it! I'm going to arm the XASM-14Hs and shoot the bastards down! Rhino 041 out!_ "

Jaden sighed "Well, until he can report back for support, we'd best scout out the rest of the base." He said, "Maybe someone here is still alive… _hopefully_."

"Yeah, and maybe they're fraking nuts."

* * *

The GAT-02A1 Dagger L was an enhanced GAT-01A1 105 Strike Dagger, with an extended battery life, new striker pack compatibility and better sensors. Three of them were also the bane of Colonel Ronald Pinkerton's life as they continued to shoot at his old Rhino bomber. "This thing was NOT BUILT TO DOGFIGHT! Frak, OMNI Enforcer must really consider this place a top priority if they've got a CAP near it at all times!"

the Rhino flew at wave-top level, using its' aft 30mm cannons to make the Mobile suits piss off long enough for him to get at the comm. "This is colonial Rhino 041, callsign Psycho to MS team. If you don't mind, I'd like you to STOP TAKING POTSHOTS AT ME! I'm on a test flight!"

Obviously, the mobile suits paid no head to Ron's complains, as they continued to chase after the Rhino, firing their beam carbines getting ever so closer to hitting the Rhino.

"Well, if Starbuck was flying this thing, those Daggers would be choking on exhaust fumes. But I'm not Starbuck. So, plan B it is." Ron fired the afterburners, forcing the Rhino into a climb as he armed the XASM-14H missiles.

The XASM-14H was a modified ASM-14A Chromebasher missile using what Jaden called a 'dumb AI' connected to a DRADIS seeker head and enhanced maneuvering jets. It could dodge any CIWS system before terminal guidance was locked, and when that happened, the missile went to Mach 21.8. Nothing could intercept THAT, and with a duel-warhead system (one to destroy up to four meters of reinforced luna titanium/laminated armor, the other to blow up the MS) nothing could prevent your Mobile Suit from going up in smoke.

Of course, it had never been tested outside simulations.

' _Time for a live-fire exersize then,_ ' Ron said, as his Rhino climbed up towards the sky, as the Dagger L's chased after him. When Ron gained enough altitude and distance, he spun the Rhino around in a high-G turn, before he activated the missiles. "Eat this Assholes!" He shouted, before he fired the first two Chromebashers towards them. The Dagger L's fired theri head vulcans, but just as simulated, the missiles were capable of dodging the weapons fire. And then the guidance system kicked in, locking onto the Daggers before it burst forward in a burst of speed before impacting against two daggers - the force of the blast tearing them to pieces as their debris rained down below.

"HA! Long live the 12 colonies, assholes!" The other two fired their beam carbines at the Rhino, scoring a glancing hit on the port wing, destroying the KEW-4Y 7.62mm minigun on the wingtip. "Chief's going to have my ass. Oh, hell. DIE!" Two more XASM-14Hs left the rails, and both suits raised their physical shields to block the missiles, but that wasn't going to save them as the first warhead detached from the main body of the missile, going at twice the terminal speed in order to destroy the shield before the main weapon itself hit the machine. This process took less then 1.8 seconds, and the result were two more destroyed Dagger Ls.

"Rhino 041 to ground team: those daggers won't be causing any more trouble. Report."

" _Ground Team here..._ " Jaden spoke up, sounding a bit… haunted. " _Ron… I need you get as many goddamn medics as you can down here..._ including _Nova if you have too..._ "

"Shit. What's going on down there?" He asked.

" _Ron, I just walked past a hallway LITTERED with the bodies of dead and dying kids._ " Jaden said, " _Medics. NOW!_ "

"Frak me. It's the Heraks all over again. En route to Pegasus RFN. Spooling up; ETA to return is five minutes."

The Rhino vectored upwards before disappearing in the red and gold flash.

* * *

 **Battlestar** _ **Pegasus**_ **\- near GENESIS Alpha**

* * *

Worker mobile Suits swarmed over the massive battlestar considered by those in the Earth Sphere to be the most powerful warship in the known universe. Pegasus had been thrown into the fire many times, and now it was time for her to get a well-deserved refit.

Lee Adama was enjoying the downtime, at least. "No combat, no insanity. Peace and quiet."

"Respectfully, sir, I miss the days where Admiral Cain was in command." Lee glared at his XO. "The days where you killed civilians in order to strip their ships for parts, ordered stupid attacks? Those days?"

"No, the days _before_ she went psycho." Shaw replied, "Then again, she always _was_ a bit on the crazy side..."

"DRADIS Contact," the DRADIS operator said, "Rhino 091 approaching."

"Sir, I've got Psycho on the line," the Comm officer said, "He's asking for..." she paused for a moment and blinked. "Say that again?"

"What?" Lee asked.

"He's… asking for… Nova?" The comm officer relayed, causing everyone to blinked.

"Did… hell freeze over or something?" the XO asked. "The day Ron _asks_ for Nova Avalon is the day the universe implodes or something."

"Well… someone go get her then." Lee said, sounding just as confused. "Just tell her Ron wants to talk to her… she'll be here in no time."

"As long as she doesn't bring her ship. Last thing we need is the earth sphere going crazy again."

* * *

fifteen minutes had passed before a _Brimir_ -Class carrier jumped beside _Pegasus_ , covered in medical crosses and emblems. "Well, that's new."

"Better then pulling up a modified _Mercury_ , Major." Lee picked up a handset. " _Eir_ , this is _Pegasus_ Actual."

" _Major Avalonia here, sir!_ " Lee paused while he processed that. "wait, aren't you-"

"your father's idea, sir, to make sure no one notices." She said, "What's the problem?"

"Ron is in Raptor 091 right now, asking for your help." Adama said, before holding the phone away as Nova squealed in delight. "Its _PROBABLY_ buisness-related, Major."

" _Like I care! More time with Ronnie the better!_ " She cheered, " _What's the mission?_ "

" _Godsdamnit… Nova, Psycho here._ " Ron spoke up. " _I have no frakking clue, me and Jaden were scouting some Blue Cosmos base in Greece. Minutes after I dropped him and the Marines off, All he told me was to get as many medics as I could… last thing he mentioned was a hallway filled with dead and dying kids. So we need to get moving NOW._ "

"Frak." Lee muttered, "Mr Hoshi, tell the Junk Guild teams to get their asses into the flight pods. We're making a jump!"

"Yes, sir." "Prep every Raptor we've got. We're going to support this operation as best we can. OMNI Enforcer can kiss my ass."

* * *

 **Londonia island**

* * *

"Colonel said he'd be back in five minutes." Hudson said, "That was half an hour ago!"

"He'll be here, so shut up!" Mathias said, "Keep an eye on those kids!" The iconic sound of a jump distortion was heard as the Rhino flew overhead, along with many, many MANY Raptors. "See? Crazy but he always comes through."

"Just make sure he and whatever medics he's brought get down here NOW!" Jaden said, as he helped a young girl who seemed to have a gunshot wound in her shoulder down on a table. In the 30 minutes they've been waiting for Ron, they've cleared most of the facility. While there were no guards, they found plenty more dead children, but as luck would have it there were still some alive, if barely. Some had gunshot wounds, others had internal damage Jaden had never seen before, while others were just spazzing out for seemingly no reason. One kid went berserk on the Marines when he called his radio a 'useless piece of junk', had to restrain him until they figured out what was going on.

The Rhino was the first to land, with Ron running out carrying his G36K/AG36 with what appeared to be an M3 shotgun and a 40mm grenade launcher that looked like an oversized pump-action shotgun. "What. The. Frak?! What in the name of Athena and Artemis HAPPENED down here?!"

"Ron… I don't have a _fucking clue_." Jaden said, as he guided him inside. "There's damn bodies everywhere, some scientists and guards, but most of them are damn kids, oldest at around 17 or so, youngest at fucking _six_. We've got survivors, but they're not doing too well. They've either been shot, spazzing out and muttering nonsense, and some just closing up for no apparent reason in the middle of a conversation!"

"Oh, GODS. The Admiral's gonna be PISSED. hell, the President's going to be pissing firewater for MONTHS over this." One of the Marines suddenly fell over, a knife stuck in the side of his neck. "Frak! I thought you said you cleared the complex!"

"WE DID!" Jaden shouted, raising his rifle, "Guards are dead! All that's left are-" he was cut off as a knife was thrown at him, but bounsed off of the armor. "The fuck?" He asked as he looked at the source, and saw a young girl no older than 14 with greyish blue hair and red eyes, which narrowed before she ran off.

"Marines, restrain the survivors! Hogtie them if you have to, but I want no more casualties!"

"Aye, sir! What about you?"

"No one fraks with my people and gets away scot free." Ron said. "Nova, you're in command; tell Commander Adama that we have a loose prisoner down here!"

"I'm going with you." Jaden said, putting his helmet on. "I'm not getting caught off-guard like that again. We need to figure out what the _fuck_ is happening here!"

They entered the building, Ron taking point with his shotgun out in front. "If she tries to kill either of us, I'm putting a round in her. No one kills one of my marines and gets away with it." When they rounded a corner, the older Colonial was knocked to the ground, his shotgun falling to the floor before they heard a round click into the chamber. "FRAK!"

"FUCK!" Jaden shouted, yanking Ron out of the way, narrowly avoiding being shot by the grey-haired girl. "Goddamnit, who IS she and where'd she learn to do THAT?!"

"We're going to find out the who." Ron pulled out his FN Five-seveN and loaded in a round into the launcher. "There where is probably here!" He fired the 20mm round, which caused a bright flash, blinding their shotgun-wielding opponent. Jaden lept out of cover, grabbing the shotgun, which discharged twice, some of the buckshot hitting Ron in the head. "Frak! Watch where she's aiming that thing! Titanium skull or not, I'm not invulnerable!"

"Working on that!" Jaden shouted, activating his suit's enhanced strength as he crushed the barrel of the shotgun, tossing it to the side. The girl tried to run away, but Jaden grabbed her by the arm. "Hey! Where do you think _your_ going?"

The girl snarled as she began kicking and punching Jaden's warsuit, having little to no effect though. "Let go! LET GO!" She screamed out, "We're not going back! We'll kill ourselves before going back!"

Ron winced at the damage to his weapon (Adama would bill the Junk guild later) before quite loudly cocking the handgun in his hands. "Now listen to me, little girl." He pointed it at her head before pressing the barrel to her forehead. "YOU will calm the hell down before I discharge this thing into your head. you killed a Colonial Marine. assaulted a Colonial officer. By all rights, I SHOULD shoot you. However, you are clearly not in the right frame of mind-" She tried to punch Ron, who easily caught the fist in his other hand. "What the hell? She's a Coordinator."

"What?" Jaden asked, "This is a _Blue Cosmos_ facility! Why the hell would they have Coordinators anywhere _near_ here?!"

"Don't ask me what those morons are thinking. All I can tell you is that her strength's been enhanced by at least 64%, she can clearly see in the dark without assistance, and she's too dextrous for anyone born naturally." She scowled at the mentioning of her genetic status and tried to pull her fist back. "YOU, of course, wouldn't notice: you're wearing POWER ARMOR. Even a powerlifter would seem weak to you in that thing."

"True enough," Jaden said shrugging before he and Ron tied the woman's hands behind her back. "What the _hell_ were they doing here… Ron, I'm gonna see if I can reactive the computers here, figure out what the fuck Blue Cosmos was doing to these kids, hopefully then we can actually help them..."

"I'll...handle her." She punted Ron in the balls, causing him to groan in pain before pistolwhipping the teenager. "THAT hurt. Maybe I should invest in a titanium ball cap." He dragged her away, but froze as he put his hand to his headset. "FRAK. Jaden, there's a small alliance task force, CBDR with _Pegasus_! They are NOT happy to see two Colonial ships in orbit!"

"Yeah well tell them _I'm_ not happy that it seems the EA has been funding the _experimentation of CHILDREN!_ " Jaden snarled back, "I'm gonna find whichever asshole made this place, and I'm gonna make him _BEG_ for me to kill him when I'm through with him! Tell _Pegasus_ to tell them we're here on a humanitarian mission or _something_ to stall them long enough to get the kids out, and for me to copy whatever data I can from the computers."

"The Commander TRIED that. They aren't taking no for an answer!"

* * *

 **In orbit**

* * *

 _Pegasus_ and _Eir_ faced five _Drakes_ , two _Nelsons_ and a pair of _Agamemnon_ -Class carriers, which were all launching their Mobile Suit teams. "Pegasus Actual to OMNI Enforcer battleship _Furies_ : we are here on humanitarian operations! Stand down!"

" _Don't take me for a fool, Adama. Humanitarian operations? In the middle of NOWHERE? Don't make me laugh. This is an invasion, nothing more. Prepare to be boarded._ "

Lee groaned as he facepalmed. "Bunch of idiots..." he muttered.

"Orders, sir?" Hoshi asked.

"Hold fire. If they try anything, shoot to kill." Pegasus rocked from a 225cm beam round impacting the starboard flight pod struct, which did little damage thanks to new laminated armor plating installed by the Junk Guild. Jaden wanted to add more guns to increase the ship's firepower dorsal and ventral, but Adama and Roslin vetoed that. 'Pegasus is terrifying enough; let's not give them any MORE reason to scream and run around like headless chickens', to quote the President.

"... _now_ its self-defense." Apollo said, "Target the ship that just fired on us… teach them a lesson."

There is much to learn of the _Mercury_ -Class battlestar. with 30 twin-barrel 600cm cannon turrets mounted in her armor belt and 8 600cm high-power spinal railguns in her bow, until the _Legacy_ and _Zeus_ -Class Battlestar Dreadnoughts, it was the most powerful warship in the Fleet. While it was limited in firing arcs, it made up for it for being INSANELY agile for its' size, able to turn a full circle in less then one-fifth its' total length and to roll over in less then 20 seconds. OMNI Enforcer was about to learn WHY the Admiralty loved them.

The ship's guns fired a suppression barrage, preventing more beam rounds from impacting the hull. THEN Pegasus struck, firing her bow cannons. The cannons struck true as they hit the first _Nelson_ , as the enemy battleship was reduced into little more than shattered debris. But it was far from over, before the rest of the salvo impacted against the EA task group, as the _Drake's_ were outright obliterated, and the remaining _Nelson_ and _Agamemnons_ were heavily damaged.

"Mobile suit teams are closing, bearing 478 carom 258! Range, 200 kilometers! Vipers are engaging!" Pegasus' Mk VIIs might have been lightly armed, but they had one factor in their favor: small size and agility. The Moebius units were big, bulky and designed for speed, while the Viper was built to dogfight anywhere, any time.

"All Vipers, Stinger: weapons free!" The Vipers broke off, engaging the massive humanoid machines. A battle began between the fighters and mobile suits, as the Vipers proved their worth capable of holding their own against the EA Dagger's with sharp zero G turns and quick bursts of speed to avoid beam shots. But the Vipers had their own difficulties as the EA Daggers were able to block many of their shots with their shields, and intercept their standard missiles with their head vulcans.

The Daggers, however, had more problems then the Vipers. Pegasus' massive guns.

A 600cm round impacted a Dagger, turning it into a cloud of fire, and the Vipers were drawing them into Pegasus' line of fire, turning the daggers into easy targets. Some, on the other hand, were smart enough to simply stop and surrender.

"Mop up the rest of them." Adama commanded, "And make sure the ones surrendering get detained onboard. And tell Ron and Jaden down there to hurry things up down there before any _more_ EA forces show up!"

"Psycho, Pegasus: Actual requests that you...expediate your efforts on the ground."

* * *

"The frak is that supposed to mean?! Oh, hell, JADEN! Just take the computers and stow them on the Rhino! We need to leave! NOW!"

"Working on that!" Jaden said as he was loading up whatever files and computers he found from the facility onto several Raptors and shuttle alpha, while the others were being used to carry away the surviving children to be immediately taken onboard the _Eri_. "I've got a _LOT_ of shit here, and I'm not leaving any of this behind for Blue Cosmos to destroy to cover their tracks!"

"Well, hurry up! _Pegasus_ is jumping in ten minutes, and I'd like to be on board by then!" THIS was going to cause a diplomatic incident. If this was a current administration complex, then the Alliance (or closer to the Atlantic Federation) were going to catch hell. "Marines! Get these people on the Raptors! If you're not on them in five minutes, Pegasus is jumping without us!" He pushed the girl onto a Raptor with three others, before running to the Rhino. "Frak, frak, FRAK!"

" _There_ we go!" Jaden said as he shoved the last computer into a Raptor as it closed. "That's everything!" He ran towards the Rhino as well, entering and closing the door behind him. "Ready to go Ron!"

"Taking off! Hang on!" The Rhino and the Medivac Raptors took off, all jumping away from the island.

* * *

 **Colonial One - 48 hours later**

* * *

Roslin looked through the files as President Joseph Copeland of the Atlantic Federation and Prime Minister Fritz Hoffman of the Eurasian Federation sat in front of her desk. "Gentlemen, I am going to be frank. three days ago, I paid a visit to the Cyrannus system, discovering that 200 million people had be sardined into a colony designed for less then a quarter that number. NOW, I come back, and I've been told that an OMNI Enforcer fleet attacked Pegasus, which was in the middle of a humanitarian mission? And this island, Lodonia, was full of mutilated children? I want ANSWERS."

Copeland loosened his tie. "I knew nothing of this facility. It was set up by my predecessor, and HE was assassinated after the war ended. And no one told me about it." Roslin had LONG been able to tell if people were bullshitting her. She might've been of the rare breed of politician (an honest one, for the most part) but it was a necessary skill. Copeland, disturbingly, was telling the truth. "You Colonials should have informed the EA about this, and this situation would have been-"

"I had given the Colonials Permission, President Copeland." Hoffman stated suddenly, causing a bit of suprise from both Copeland _and_ Roslin. "I had reason to believe human rights were being violated in the area, so I gave them permission."

Roslin rose an eyebrow at that. She knew Hoffman did _not_ give them permission, yet he was still covering for them?

"Then why didn't you inform us?!" Copeland demanded, "We could've saved the lives-" however he was cut off by the ice cold glare that Hoffman shot his way.

"Oh… you wanted _me_ to inform _you_ of something like that?" He asked. "Just as you 'informed' us that all Atlantic Federation troops were being conveniently pulled out of JOSH-A prior to ZAFT's attack, and 'informed' us of the Fucking CYCLOPS you built? Oh wait, you DIDN'T! If anything, it is the AF who is in trouble, for not only trespassing in EF aerospace, but _also_ for allowing an _Atlantic Federation run facility_ within our own borders without informing me! And then you blatantly attack a Colonial Humanitarian mission! "

"I ordered nothing! THat facility was run by my predecessor, and Blue Cosmos killed off your people, Prime Minister!"

"Gentlemen!" Both turned back to Roslin. "I want those children looked after. BOTH of you are going to send us doctors to deal with the 200 million that will be jumping into orbit in three days AND those children. And if any of them go missing, I will know EXACTLY who to blame. As for the attacking fleet, it was probably Blue Cosmos' fault, as the REST of your forces are actually reasonable. Colonel Pinkerton and Commander Takeo of the Junk Guild can coordinate efforts."

"Considering that the Guild and the Colonial Fleet are practically one and the same now-"

A look from Roslin told President to shut the hell up, or else. The AF President nodded, not wanting to earn the woman's wrath.

"If that is all gentlemen? This meeting is over,"

Both men paled before they practically RAN out of the makeshift office, running past Admiral Adama, Ron, Jaden and several others, including Cottle. "SOMEONE got spooked."

"Not surprised the EF prime minister covered for us..." Jaden said, "Ever since he took office, he's been against AF support… there are rumors out there claiming he wants the EF to leave the Alliance all together."

"Orb and the Eurasian Federation would make better allies than the PLANTs and the rest of the Alliance at this rate, Commander. though I'm surprised that President copeland thinks we've practically assimilated the Junk guild."

Adama huffed in amusement. "Considering how often both our forces coordinate operations, it's natural to think that." He said, "They probably think we bribed the Guild with Colonial technology in exchange to total control."

"Bah, we just like working with you guys." Jaden said with a chuckle. "You make things interesting, and give us Guilders a _lot_ to work on, especially with the CCE. I'd be lying though if I said there weren't anyone in the guild who've considered the idea of merging the Junk Guild with the CCE eventually."

"That's a matter for another day. Now, you said there was a Coordinator at that facility?"

"Yes, ma'am. I'm of the opinion she's what's been referred to as a 'Combat Coordinator'. Blue cosmos is nothing if not hypocritical: if they didn't come up with the Natural-use OS, they'd be fielding more of them. And ALL of those kids have been psychologically conditioned: one girl screamed about not being able to see until Admiral Adama gave her his glasses." Roslin smiled ruefully. "That explains why you're all late. Opinions?"

"Well Redignton's putting together his squadron together, with those Ex-Druggies he's taken under his wings," said Adama, shaking his head a bit, "They still got a colorful personality, but they get along fine with the good Captain, and he's asking to take some of those kids in. I guess he sees them as his new pack after Tyrol told me about what happened to him at Panama,"

Roslin chuckled. "Speaking of which, those new ships?" "The Amaterasu is fitting in swimmingly with Galactica. The other 4 ships should be ready by the end of the year, and Orb will be getting their own warships from Delta Canopis around the same time. Battlestar Groups 62 and 75 will be at nominal strength by next year's time." "If we keep the Jupiter armada a secret."

* * *

 _ **Djibril's mansion**_

* * *

"They found Lodonia." said one of the older men solemnly on a monitor in Djibril's underground bunker.

"Don't you think I know that?" he snapped, "And what are you so worried about one lab? It's not like we have other facilities,"

"We didn't LIQUIDATE it completely, Djibril! They recovered no fewer than 60 failed Extendeds AND that Combat Coordinator! The Eurasian Federation is crying foul, the Colonials are gaining even MORE support, even from members of the Atlantic Federation and we're a few crises away from the fragmentation of the Earth Alliance, which we NEED to exterminate the Coordinator threat!"

Djibril grabbed the glass of wine he had been and chucked to the other side of the room, causing it to shatter and scare the near life out of his poor cat.

"DON'T YOU THINK I KNOW THAT YOU FOOLS!?" He shouted.

The two Centurions stared at the cat for a second before standing straight once more. "Even WITH the baseship, FTL technology is at least MONTHS away from being used on anything smaller than the Charlemagne! Bruno, how long until the other ships are ready?"

"Three months before the Arnulf and the Papin are ready to launch. The Charlemagne herself is ready for combat. Galactica won't stand a chance against her."

Djibril couldn't help the smirk on his face.

"Good," he said with a slightly sadistic tone, "Soon, we'll put those Colonials in their place."

He gathered up his cat, putting it back on his lap. "Their own creations will spell their doom."

* * *

Ron the True Fan: (Types into an EMS Vocoder 2000) By your command. Well, readers, everything seems to be going down the gutter. Again. Cosmic Era? More like 'Warring States Era' if you ask me.

Patriot-112: And that I agree to that. How can they call it Cosmic Era, when they haven't journeyed the whole universe yet?

Ron the True Fan: Well, things change. The interlude comes to the end. the Second Bloody Valentine War comes.

Ja Ne!


	7. Chapter 6: False Peace

**Chapter 7: False Peace**

* * *

 **Orb Union - January 29th, Cosmic Era 73**

* * *

It had been almost two years since the Colonial Fleet jumped into the Battle at Jachin Due, and the settling in was mostly complete. The earth Sphere had long since gotten used to the two most powerful warships in the known universe orbiting Luna, the Vipers flying through the atmosphere and jumping in and out of Raptors over the capitals of the nations of Earth.

Now was the first of what was hoped would be many air shows featuring the Colonial Fleet's finest.

Among the gathered crowd, Kira, Lacus, Athrun, Cagalli, and many of their friends who could make it, waited as an announcer approached the podium.

"Hello, everyone. Welcome to the show. As you know, two years ago, the world, if not the universe, changed. The Colonial fleet appeared, ending a bloody, senseless war. 40 years ago, a man entered another senseless war, intending to make his mark and help his people end the fighting. His name was William Adama."

After a brief applause, the Announcer continued.

"From common pilot to experienced ship command and now Fleet Admiral, Adama has led his people from a holocaust caused by the same enemy he and the rest of the colonies fought decades before,"

The sound of a turbine engine roaring was heard as a Mk II Viper flew overhead, the sharp-eyed catching sight of the nameplate: Adm. William Adama 'Husker'. "Wow! There he is! Admiral Adama!"

The group looked at the fighter as it flew through the sky, pulling off some maneuvers.

"I didn't know the Admiral was _that_ good of a pilot," said Athrun.

The Viper spun around in less then .4 seconds, aliaron rolling through the sky. "It's sad. Such skill, only to be used to end lives." The whine of engines were heard as what appeared to be Cylon Raiders, from the first war, whooped in. "Admiral! Watch out!"

However the Viper stopped in mid-air and the two raiders sped by him, and the twin guns on the fighter opened up, spewing...nothing but paintballs, as a volley hit one of the Raiders on the side.

"You're kidding. They're mounting paintball guns?" "Well, maybe this is how Colonial airshows work: actual combat, without...death." More Raiders entered the fight, firing on Adama's fighter. "There's no way the Admiral's going to survive this!" Paintballs impacted another Raider as more Mk II vipers entered the fight.

The crowd could see on two of the Vipers, a and respectively, were 'Captain Kara "Starbuck" Thrace' and 'Commander Lee "Apollo" Adama'. The reinforcements then engaged the Raiders, and the crowd could see that despite this being an airshow, the pilots were treating this performance as a real combat situation.

Kira frowned. They were treating this like a training session: in-atmo combat. Lacus clearly wasn't approving, either. "This is wrong. They're training for war when we're at peace."

* * *

In Starbuck's Mk II, she locked onto Athena's Raider before pelting it with paintballs. "Damn it!" "Hey, you shot down Hot Dog and Kat! Only fair-" She gripped her hand before yanking back on the stick.

Another Raider joined the fray, but this one was different, as it was the same one that was captured during the Battle of the Guardian Baseship. The Colonial Fleet personnel gave it the nickname "Cylon Viper" while the official name is Cobra Mk.I.

After a thorough examination of the Cylon Prototype fighter, it was decided to have the fighter massed produced, giving it the designation 'Cobra'. In the fighter's cockpit, Boomer smirked.

"You should keep a better look at your surroundings, Starbuck," she said snidely, while the dual guns opened up, aiming at Kara's wing.

Starbuck climbed upwards before she saw something. A Heavy Raider, and orange clouds. "What the hell? FRAK!" She panicked, arming the Viper's two 30mm autocannons, opening fire on the Raider. These were the ACTUAL guns mounted to the Viper, not paintball gun pods, and they hit their intended target. Problem was, that target was a Mk II viper, which lost its' engine and starboard wing in the process.

"Starbuck, what the hell!?" shouted Lee, as Kara watched in horror as the Viper spin out of control.

She watched the plane fall out of the sky before her own rammed another Viper, sheering off the port wing of her craft and killing the pilot of the other, which rammed another Raider, destroying both. Starbuck, openly crying and cursing, pulled the ejector handles of her seat, letting Lee destroy the now out of control fighter.

* * *

Nearby, a Raptor and a Colonial Mobile Suit were watching the events from a distance. "Frak ME. Captain, did you see that?"

"Yeah I did! Admiral, do you read me!?"

"I'm fine! Dammit! Apollo, status on Starbuck!?"

"She...she ejected. What the hell came over her?" the Raptor fired its' afterburners, heading for the scene. "Psycho to all aircraft: the airshow is cancelled. RTB to Galactica. SAR Raptors, get your asses moving! Captain Redington, you too!"

"Copy that Admiral," came Will's voice, and the GAT-X03 Gladius, in it's new paint scheme of light grey, with olive green trim, with a Medieval Wolf Rampant on the right shoulder, sped to the scene in order to help.

"What the hell Kara?," Bill said, showing a mix of anger, and concern for his adoptive daughter.

* * *

 **Battlestar Galactica**

* * *

"Five pilots and nine planes. Starbuck fraked up GOOD this time." Ron sighed before handing tigh a file. "Someone decided to be a dick. There were traces of XC58 Gamma and Agent Huron in her blood."

"And exactly how bad is that?" asked Will, as he passed his hand through his hair.

"They're time-delay psychotropics, used for creating auditory and visual hallucinations. Highly illegal to use, hard to get your hands on. And there are bottles of both in Galactica's sickbay under heavy lockdown."

Tigh winced. He might not've liked starbuck, but THIS was something even he would not do. "Someone doped her?"

"And badly."

"Any suspects?" Will asked, and Ron sighed.

"Blue Cosmos, probably." Ron said, "We DID have a bunch of tourists on board a few days ago. I recommend pulling all active pilots and personnel for the next 12 hours: both chemicals have a 72 hour activation period."

"Very well. Colonel, I think it's time we continued modernizing the fleet. The President has requested that we begin development of a new Mobile Suit, to replace the Daggers and GINNs we acquired at Jachin Due."

Will blinked at that, "Any candidates?" he asked, and Ron just grinned at him.

"Morgenrote was kind enough to give me the blueprints and specs to the MVF-11C Murasame." Ron said, "I've begun retrofitting the prototype they gave us: new battery, enhanced sensors." He handed a file to Adama, labelled 'CDF-X01 DART'. "Superior in every way to every MS in service with any Earth Sphere military. Even the Gladus units we're producing for the reserve aren't as good."

Bill opened the folder and looked at the design of the new Mobile Suit.

"Gotta hand it to Morgenroete, they come up with crazy idea," he said and looked at Ron, "And you just make 'em even more crazier,"

"Thank you, sir. I plan to put this thing through its' paces once it's complete in three days. After that, it will be the three weeks from hell. And if the Captain will oblige, one of those will be the dogfight from hell."

"I wouldn't mind," he said, "And I wouldn't mind loaning one of my pilots, one of the kids we picked up at Lodonia,"

"then I have work to do. Excuse me." "Colonel." Ron paused as he got up. "Those Titanomachy missiles of yours. I want them mass produced." "Consider it done."

* * *

 **Arzachel crater**

* * *

Like a battleship of old, the _Charlemagne_ woke with a rumble. Mighty as she was, she was but the first of her class. "You've outdone yourself, Augustus! The Charlemagne will herald the dawn of a new era for humanity."

Augustus gave a sigh, "She's still in the trial stages, Lord Djibril," he said, "I just hope the Captain you picked for her will do well not to get her TOO damaged,"

"Admiral Morgerstern will handle the Charlemagne. My problem, as always, remains Galactica. You promised me a ship that could outfight her, yet in simulations, Galactica and Pegasus can outturn her. Ships FIVE TIMES the mass out turning the king of the Earth Sphere." "you wanted power, not agility. by the time we figured out the agility problem, the design was frozen!"

Djibril sighed at that, "Let's just hope she can bring down one of those Battlestars," he said, "My agents have by now spiked those drugs into the pilots' food, and that airshow 'incident' is certainly causing trouble for them."

The leader of Blue Cosmos gazed at the two unfinished sisters of the mightly Charlemagne. "How long until they're ready?" "5 months. The Centurions cut down the construction time by half: no family to go home to, no one to unwittingly reveal the existence of the ship. The perfect workforce."

Djibril grinned at that thought. "Good..." he said, "Once they are complete… we sink _Galactica_ , then _Pegasus_ , those other battlestars… and the rest of them will be easy picking."

* * *

 **Factory ship Brokkr - Jupiter orbit**

* * *

"Alright, people! Listen up! This will be THE most ambitious project the CCE will undertake!" Hundreds of engineers and technicians stood before Ron, and behind him was a diagram of the CDF-X01 dart. "The Dart will be the first mass-production MS to use phase shift armor, a transforming frame, an FTL drive and those fancy striker packs. And we're going to build a LOT of them. Questions?"

"When do we get started, sir?" One of the engineers asked.

"Right the hell now. The prototype needs to be in the air by week's end! I expect a working prototype beam rifle by that time, as well as an FTL drive that can jump us halfway to Kobol mounted in it! Get to work!" The engineers got to work, and Ron stared at the Murasume that would be converted into the CDF-X01. "We have a lot to do."

* * *

 **GENESIS Alpha - Lagrange Point 4**

* * *

"Alright ladies, get the corks out of your ears!" Jaden shouted, as he stood before a small hoard of Junk Guild members. "As you know, the Colonials are making a brand new Mobile Suit series for their personal use - the Dart. While we have our Raysta's, and our own vastly upgraded and militarized A1's and such… me and Ron have struck up a small wager."

Jaden grinned "CCE is gonna begin work on their CDF-X01 Dart, but we will be competing with them, to develop our _own_ super badass mobile weapon!" He said, "And when their ready, me and Ron will each pilot our respective prototypes, and have ourselves a good old fashioned mobile suit fight to see who's is best! That's right, it's our very own JUNKYARD WARS!"

Cheering was heard from all the guilders, ready to kick the crap out of the CCE's new MS.

* * *

 **Orb Union**

* * *

The sight of a black hulled Archangel was...intimidating, to say the least. The gold colonial starbird on the sides, though, was a comfort. It had been two years, and the _Dominion_ had settled nicely into her new fleet, with Cagalli noting the new number painted on the side. BSG-75.

"I must admit, the _Dominion_ fits rather well within the Colonial navy," Cagalli commented, as Adama nodded as their Raptor landed in the hangar bay.

"Colonel Tigh wasn't impressed with her." He remembered the first thing Tigh said when they saw the Dominion after Jachin due. 'That thing looks like a lounge chair. And missiles? What the frak is that thing, a mini Cylon baseship?' "Colonel Pinkerton was...equally insulted." That was an understatement. All Ron wanted to do was scrap the ship and use it to refit Galactica. Adama, thankfully, vetoed that idea.

"They obviously never saw the _Archangel_ 's track record." Cagalli said, as they left the Raptor. "She survived ZAFT Commando bombings, being harrassed by the captured G-Weapons, fought against the Desert Tiger, survived the path through the Indian Ocean to Orb, JOSH-A, the Battle of Orb, and of course Jachin Due. If that doesn't prove the _Angels_ can't take a beating and dish one right back out, I don't know what will."

"They might be able to deal damage to a Terran warship, but the Archangel wouldn't have a chance against Galactica. A salvo of 8-ton projectiles going at .001 times the speed of light kind of ruins anyone's day. It's worse against Pegasus. Her ECM suites would make the missiles go around the ship." The Raptor set down on the deck, inside the assault carrier. "Enjoy your trip to Delta Canopis, Madam Representative."

"you're not going, Admiral?"

"I have to keep my pilots from going off the rails. Someone fraked with Starbuck during that airshow last week." Cagalli shook her head, remembering those planes falling from the sky in flames as she stepped off the raptor. "Enjoy your visit, Cagalli."

* * *

 **Delta Canopis Shipyards**

* * *

The orbiting yards were buzzing with activity: dozens of ships were coming and going, all highly automated due to manpower issues. No fewer then four _Brimir_ -Class carriers were in orbit, all surrounding a near copy of the _Dominion_.

As the _Dominion_ itself passed by, Cagalli looked at the ship in surprise. "What is that?" She asked.

"Another one of the CCE's projects, they're calling it the _Archangel Kai_ -class." Natarle informed.

"A little unoriginal." "Well, they turned it into a miniature battlestar. the crazy bastards added twelve more railguns to the damn thing." Cagalli winced. two railguns were bad enough, but the Colonials? They LOVED kinetic energy weapons. the sheer number mounted to Galactica turned her into the yardstick every Terran warship was now measured against.

And were usually found wanting. Very, very, VERY wanting. And that was when Cagalli noticed that the ship carried not a Colonial starbird, but the emblem of the United Emirates of Orb. "Wait..." she said, "Why does it have the Orb emblem, and not the Colonial emblem?"

"Because the admiral was planning on gifting them to Orb." Natarle said, causing Cagalli to bink.

"Wait, what?" She asked, as the former XO of the _Archangel_ chuckled a bit.

"That's right," she said, "The Admiral said it'll serve Orb well until we can deliver you the _Amaterasu's_ when their finished."

Cagalli gaped until she saw the shipyard. Nine more Archangel-class ships were under construction, varying from nearly complete to halfway complete. "How?"

"The shipyards are highly automated." She said, "Some kind of AI, smart enough to run the place, but loyal to the Colonials, kept the place from falling apart until Colonel Pinkerton and Commander Takeo showed up."

However, before Cagalli could ask anything else, there were several flashes of light as two _Mercury_ -class Battlestars and a _Valkyrie-_ class Battlestar popped into existence from their FTL jumps, proceeding towards the shipyard.

Cagalli attempted to process this. Even if there were more than one Mercury, neither ship was Pegasus; both ships were named Mercury and Damocles. And the Valkyrie was named Sif, not Yashuman or Valkyrie. That made the princess come to one, simple conclusion.

'They have more than four ships. They have a LOT more than four ships!' Natarle facepalmed. "Well, cat's out of the bag now."

"You KNEW?!"

"It was four months after they jumped into Jupiter orbit! They didn't exactly trust any of us until they could be sure we wouldn't inform our birth nations and cause a panic! Think about the world's reaction to Galactica and Pegasus; what would they do if over 80 more ships of the same classes showed up?!"

"... _EIGHTY?!_ " Cagalli shouted, causing Natarle to groan.

* * *

 **Meanwhile - GENESIS Alpha**

* * *

"Hey where do you want us to put that shipment of Valves you requested?"

"Are they _Va_ nutan or _Ka_ nuten Valves?"

"There's a difference?"

Jaden shook his head as he looked at the mobile suit in the center of the hangar bay which was slowly taking shape. Like the Dart that the CCE was designing, the mobile suit that was being built by the Junk Guild - currently called the YMF-JG72X Ramumesa - was intended to be a transformation-capable machine like the Murasame, just as the Dart would be. Overall, it wasn't too different from the Murasame, however there were some major key differences. Like the Dart, it possessed Trans Phase Shift armor, and it would have its own small FTL Drive similar to those equipped onto Raptors, granting it more long-range flight time to totally different star systems. However, unlike the Dart, it would not be capable of mounting Striker Packs.

The design of the Ramumesa was basically to create a general-purpose, easy to master and produce mobile suit. While it may not have the same firepower the Dart would get from its Striker Packs, it makes up for its sheer maneuverability and speed, including a mixture of kinetic and beam weaponry. In addition to the obvious 75mm Head Vulcans, and beam sabers, the Ramumesa had a pair of 30mm Vulcans mounted along the 'nose' of the aircraft for its MA mode for Dogfighting Raiders and Vipers. And possessed hardpoints under each of its wings for attaching various weapons, from Multi-purpose missiles, Anti-Air missiles, Anti-Ship missiles, unguided/guided bombs, rocket pods, and even the newer, more advanced Micro-Missile pods which can swarm enemies with hails of missiles. And of course, it could also use the CCE-built Titanomachy missiles. However its main weapon was the GAU-67G 58mm 6-Barrel High-Energy Beam Gatling Gun Pod, giving the MS all the punch it needs to take down most mobile suits in the earth sphere, equipped also with an Anti-Armor Bayonet with heat blade tech which can melt through lunar titanium.

With all of this though, one of the most interesting features Jaden had introduced to the Ramumesa is the unique transforming ability. While it possesses the standard Mobile Suit and Mobile Armor modes, it also possessed a third mode - which several Junk Guild members have nicknamed 'Guardian' mode. A half-and-half mode where the arms and legs of the MS are exposed, yet it still maintained its Fighter-like shape. This mode allows it to hover in place when in atmosphere, and quickly pick up people and items if need-be, and do so much faster than it would in MS mode.

Overall though, the Ramumesa was beginning to truly take shape as a capable mobile suit, and Jaden was looking forward seeing how it will fair against the Colonial Dart prototype.

Which, apparently, would be using a new type of beam rifle. The XDEW-1A looked like a conventional bullpup assault rifle, but other then the name and the size of the beam (50mm, which were smaller then the ones used by everyone else) Jaden knew nothing about it. The Colonials had opted for the Roman method of military thinking, which was 'improve on an existing design', rather then 'build something themselves'. But the Colonials were VERY good at that. They had created a version of PSA that was super-cheap to make, made the quantum computers used in every MS much easier to build and were probably on the way to making the DRAGOON System usable for non-Newtypes.

Underestimating the Colonials would be a stupid mistake.

* * *

 **Battlestar Galactica - Delta Canopis**

* * *

Adama and Roslin sat in front of Cagalli, who looked VERY pissed off. "You could have told me. You SHOULD have told us about those ships!"

"This is why we didn't tell anyone yet," Roslin said as she sighed, "If the EA or ZAFT found out we had an _Armada_ of ships, they'd think it was the precursor to an invasion."

"That's no excuse! If you simply showed them what happened to the Colonies, they-"

"Are you THAT naive, Madam Representative?" Cagalli stared at Adama, who was leveling his gaze on her. "ZAFT would claim that we would attack them, the Alliance would do the same, and there would be full-scale war throughout the entire solar system. No one and nothing would survive the holocaust that would ensue. Do you understand?"

"You can't keep a force like that hidden forever, Admiral!" Cagalli said, "The longer you keep them hidden, the worse it'll be when the EA and ZAFT eventually _do_ find out!"

"Which is why we're trying to speed up the cleanup operations on the Colonies. It will STILL take over a year to clean up the radiation from Tauron and Caprica. I would think that a fleet staying out of the Earth Sphere would show that we're unwilling to get involved in anything, and that isn't going to change unless some idiot decides to openly shoot at a Colonial ship. As soon as we can, we'll leave Sol to your own devices. Colonel Pinkerton's informed us you've been building improved versions of the Raptor; if the Cylons come, all you have to do is send a ship to Cyrannus." The leader of Orb suddenly felt like she was being treated like a misbehaving student being scolded by her teacher. Fitting, as Roslin WAS a teacher prior to entering politics. "Besides, you're getting ten more ships to defend your nation. I think that's a good enough price to pay for keeping your mouth shut until we go back."

Cagalli closed her eyes for a minute, as if trying to calm herself down before she sighed. "I won't tell anyone." She said, "But I say again: you can't keep this fleet hidden forever at Jupiter. Someone will find out eventually."

Adama's face could not be read, but his tone could. "Maybe. But if and when they find out, it will be on our terms. Until then, Galactica, Pegasus and the two Valkyries will be the only Colonial battlestars in orbit of Earth." "They will find out, admiral. And no amount of assurances will make it any better."

* * *

 **Ptolaemaus Crater - March 12th, Cosmic Era 73**

* * *

Pegasus was currently hosting a large number of Colonial and Junk guild personnel, all of whom were making open bets. "For the record, commander, I did not agree to this bet."

Lee shook his head as he listened to ron defend himself. "Commander Takeo says otherwise."

"Well, Commander Takeo's probably annoyed at the CCE stealing all the Junk guild's thunder. Doesn't matter. Please tell me he's not listening in."

"I don't think so," Lee said glancing around, "I wasn't expecting him or his Junk Guilders to be in here..."

At that moment though, there was a brief moment of blaring music before Jaden and two more Junk Guilders jumped into the room, wearing red uniforms. "No one expects the Junk Guild!" Jaden shouted, "Our chief weapon is surprise, surprise and fear - no, _two_ chief weapons, Surprise, Fear and ruthless efficiency - I mean _three_ chief weapons! Surprise, Fear, Ruthless efficiency and an almost fanatical devotion to engineering - wait, make that _four_ chief weapons, amongst other weapons!"

Lee's eyebrows were arched in a fashion akin to a certain sci-fi legend while Shaw was facepalming, resisting the urge to plant her head into the plotting table. "No wonder the CCE and them get along."

 _Pegasus_ 's commander sighed before looking at Jaden. "the Colonel and the prototype Dart are in the port flight pod. And he says that he never agreed to this little contest of yours. Course, the Admiral's turning it into a flyoff."

"I heard, but Ron should know now we _love_ a good engineering contest." Jaden said grinning. "'Sides, it'll be fun either way. I'll be in the flight pod." And with that, Jaden left, leaving behind his two JG members still wearing the red uniforms.

"Sir, I have an idea on how to make things more...interesting."

* * *

Ron flipped the switches in the cockpit as he clipped his helmet onto his head. "CDF-X01, startup checklist complete. DRADIS array, all green, OS operational, weapons ready." "Cleared for takeoff, Colonel." The Mobile Suit's thrusters fired as he left Pegasus' port flight pod, keeping an eye on both the DRADIS and his surroundings. "Pegasus, Psycho: is Jaden still in CIC?"

" _Present._ " Jaden said, before the Ramumesa flew overhead of the Dart. " _Ready to get this show on the road, Ron?_ "

"I did not make this bet, Jaden: you just automatically assumed. Now my reputation's on the line." He moved the craft abreast of the Ramumesa. "You'd better hope that thing passes the tests the CCE has for ALL of our equipment."

" _C'mon, it'll be fun._ " Jaden said chuckling, " _It'll be like the fly off between the Black Widow II and Raptor in the 21st Century._ "

"If I remember clearly, one was turned into a production fighter while the other was turned into a museum piece." " _This is_ Pegasus _Actual: you are cleared for mock combat exercise. Good hunting._ "

"Copy, Actual." Both fighters broke off, banking in opposite directions before the battle truly began as both suit transformed into MS mode and pulled out their respective weapons.

' _Setting beam weapons to training mode..._ ' Jaden thought as he prepared the Beam gatling gunpod, taking cover behind a slab of debris which had been set up by the CCE and Junk Guild for the battle. ' _Now, if I were Ron… the first thing I would do is-_ '

A green beam of energy shot out from space, hitting Jaden's cover blasting it to bits. "DO THAT!" He shouted, before he transformed into MA mode and darted away. He could see shots being fired at him from a fair distance away, and Jaden used the Ramumesa's speed and agility to its advantage by dodging and weaving through the debris field to avoid being hit by Ron's fire.

The Dart transformed into MA mode, chasing after the Ramumesa, firing its' back-mounted beam cannon at the Junk guild mobile suit. Jaden was tempted to facepalm as he realized that Ron was treating the Dart as an oversized Viper, not a Mobile Suit. He transformed into Guardian mode before the dart jumped away, preventing him from hitting it.

FTL technology was a pain to counter, and having FTL-capable Mobile Suits would cause ANYONE a headache. Jaden's headache was going to get worse, though, as black puffs surrounded him and the Dart.

"OI! WHAT THE FUCK?!" Jaden shouted as he dodged the flack fired by _Pegasus_. "RON! WAS THIS YOUR IDEA?!"

"Pegasus, _Psycho: a flak test was NOT scheduled! What the hell is going on?!_ "

" _Blame Major Shaw, boys: she wanted to make the fight more...interesting. Besides, you were going to do it eventually. You ALWAYS put your fighter prototypes through the flak test._ "

"But that… Fuck it, we'll do it live!" Jaden shouted.

" _Wha-_ "

"FUCK IT! WE'LL DO IT LIVE!" Jaden shouted as he switched his machine back to MS mode, spinning it around as he fired his gatling gun at the Dart, while also avoiding the AA Flack. While the TPS armor could easily defend against it, it was still a bit annoying when it'd rattle the cockpit a bit.

Ron was also pissed off, but seemed to be handling it better then Jaden. The 'flak test' must've been a way to make sure that Colonial craft could handle a flak barrier to some degree. The Dart swam through the field, shrapnel pinging off the armor plating. " _Jaden, I'm seeing a small leak from your port engine. Seems to be a coolant leak._ "

"Oh thanks, one sec..." Jaden said, as the port engine shut off for a few seconds while still dodging the Flack, albet a bit slower. "Switching to backup… sealing off damaged coolant bank… there we go!" The engine ignited back to life as he was back to 100%. "Write that down for the notes… now, where were we? Ah yes." He spun around as he pulled out a beam saber and blocked Ron's attempt to sneak behind him. "Beam Sabers working fine, glad we fixed that issue from past models with Armure Lumiere."

The Dart fired its' thrusters to backpedal back into the heavier part of the flak field, and Jaden was slightly uneasy about going in there. All being said, the Ramumesa was much more complex then the Dart thanks to the Guardian mode, and parts WERE exposed in that configuration. If one piece of shrapnel damaged part of the transforming frame, the MS would turn into a metallic pretzel.

' _Note to self - apply extra armor to areas exposed in Guardian mode._ ' He thought, as he transformed his machine to full MA mode. ' _Seriously, what the hell was I thinking?_ ' He speed up after Ron's Dart, chasing him through the field of Flack, dodging and weaving to catch up with the Dart.

Both exited the field, The Dart transforming mid-flight to fire its' thrusters in order to stop the MS from going too far from Pegasus before Ron fired something from the rifle that wasn't a beam. It was shaped like a bullet. It was only when it exploded that Jaden realized it was a 100mm grenade, sending shrapnel toward the Ramumesa. One of the cameras was knocked out, but it wasn't enough to take the MS out of the fight. " _Ok, gentlemen, report back to_ Pegasus. _I think that's enough for today._ "

"Yeah, sounds good." Jaden said, as he transformed into full MS mode. "Need to patch that Coolant leak… make a few mods, reactions seemed a bit sluggish."

* * *

Both men stood before Admiral Adama later that day as he looked over the logs of the battle. "While Major Shaw's 'idea' was reckless, you were going to have to do that eventually. And Commander...what the hell made you consider adding a hybrid mode to a Mobile Suit?"

"The Guardian Mode I designed was to allow the Ramumesa to land in a combat zone and still maintain maximum defensive abilities." Jaden informed, "Also, it grants it formidable low level aerial fighting capabilities without fully going MS mode. You could easily fly between buildings and make turns in dime if you needed to thanks to it. while also having the maximum firepower of the Ramumesa at the same time. After all, would any sane pilot chase after a MS which can change to a hybrid mode in mid-flight, and while still flying forward, turn around, and start shooting back?"

"While that is something no one wants to face, I believe the Murasame is VTOL-capable."

"It was in the original design, Admiral; Morgenrote deleted it from the production models because they weren't planning on using it the way we do. I reintroduced it on the Dart. Not to the same effect as the Ramumesa, but it can fight in a street-level battle. Didn't want to add to the complexity of the MS unnecessarily."

Adama poured himself a glass of brandy before searching for his glasses. "Smart. You were thinking of the knuckledraggers, wanting to make their job easier."

"I was also thinking of the pilots." He said, "They don't want to pilot a Mobile Suit, they just want a simple fighter like the Viper, with the added close-in ability of an MS, if necessary."

The Old man gave up looking for his spectacles, remembering that one of the Lodonia kids still had them. "The Dart is simpler, but we need more then one model." He said, "The Dart will be our primary unit, with the Ramumesa being its' partner unit. Three-to-two ratio, favoring the Dart. Commander, work with Colonel Pinkerton; try to make your machine easier to maintain. I don't want Chief Tyrol up here telling me how much of a pain in the ass it is to make sure those things don't lock up mid-flight."

"We wouldn't have built it if we didn't plan that ahead, but alright." Jaden said nodding, "Need to fix a few kinks in it anyways, give it more armor in Guardian mode, and such."

"Dismissed." Ron saluted to the old man before they went to the hatch, which opened violently, slamming Ron into the bulkhead as a brown-haired girl with pigtails ran in, wearing Adama's glasses. "Ow..."

"Oh! Uhhh, sorry!" The girl said, chuckling a bit nervously. "Didn't see ya there..."

"Solid steel hatch; course you didn't see me." He unmarried himself from the bulkhead, cracking his back as he straightened it out. "Who are you?"

"Oh, you guys saved me from that place!" The girl said smiling, "I'm Mari!"

"And why do you have the Old Man's glasses?" Ron asked, "He kinda needs them."

She blinked, tilting her head to one side. "Uh...because I need them, too?"

"Riiiight."

"Mari." The girl jumped at the sound of Adama's voice before spinning around. "Papa Bill!" Both men stared as she jumped on Adama in a bearhug.

"This day could not get any weirder."

* * *

Sherman Cottle had PLENTY of experience in odd medical matters. He delivered a Cylon baby two years ago, which, when not taking Sharon Agathon's semi-human state into account, was pretty fraking odd.

But the strange bluenette that called herself Rei? She could have the emotional attitude of a brick one second and be mad as hell the next, so getting an accurate medical reading on her was nigh-impossible.

She also knifed someone that tried to force himself on her, which earned her high-praise from Colonel Tigh.

Then there were the OTHER ones: a redhead that could've been from Virgon (the accent reminded him of it) while the other a boy that had a very Aquarian accent to his voice.

They were… odd. The girl, whom claimed her name was Asuka, could rant forever about _anything_ she saw, and the boy - who's name was 'Shinji' - had almost zero self-esteem… unless the word 'Useless' was flung around, which would send the boy on a near unstoppable berserker rage, which only Asuka could quell by… well… Heloing it with him.

If it weren't for the fact that _Galactica_ was LITERALLY the most secure place to hold them, he'd've shipped them off to the _Rising Star_ for medical treatment, as it, ironically, had better medical facilities.

That, and the ONLY person any of them really respected was admiral Adama. he showed up, they calmed the frak down and OBEYED. It was like they knew he was a figure of authority without asking.

Speak of him and he will cometh, as Admiral Adama walked into the medical bay along with Jaden, Ron and one of the other girls - Mari. "Doctor." Adama said.

"Admiral." Cottle replied nodding, before the children noticed his arrival.

All three jumped to their feet, standing at attention. The two other officers shared a glance before the CCE Colonel facepalmed. "I was wrong: this day DID get weirder." Ron said. "How the hell did you DO that, Bill? Seriously, I show up near that bluehead and she tries to knife me! YOU show up, it's 'By your freaking Command'!"

"Maybe they recognize him as a figure of authority… " Jaden said shrugging, "Who knows what the EA did to their heads at that place."

"He does have that aura of command that simply makes you OBEY, and that if you don't, there will be blood."

Cottle resisted chuckling at the engineering comedy duo. "Admiral, since you're the only one they listen to, I don't have much of a choice." Adama raised an eyebrow before Cottle gave him a clipboard. "Sign here."

"What's this?" Adama asks as he signed it.

"Release forms indicating that _you_ are now the legal guardian for these kids." Cottle said grinning.

Adama glared at Cottle, who simply lit up a smoke in response. "Doc, you're a troll. But that's why we love you."

* * *

 **8 months later - October 2nd, Cosmic Era 73, 06:45 hours local time**

* * *

"THIS is the enemy." Video footage of a Viper flying past was displayed on a wall behind Lunamaria Hawke, ZAFT red coat and former Colonial Foreign Legion pilot. Of course, she wore her Colonial navy blues under the undone red jacket, feeling no shame having served.

"The Mk VII Viper is the mainstay unit of the Colonial Fleet. three turbo-thrust engines with optional thrust vectoring power this 10 foot long war machine, and it is armed with three 30mm cannons, with 9 hardpoints for missiles, unguided rockets and nukes. Now, who can tell me..." She faced the class of ZAFT pilots who had come to the lecture. "How many Vipers did the Colonials lose at Jachin Due?"

When she was met with silence, Luna closed her eyes, groaning. "Read your frakking history..." she muttered, "Technically, the Colonials lost no Vipers - though one could argue they lost _one_ , but that one was only lost when it crashed into the X13A Providence at the end of the battle, and even then the machine was retrieved and repaired."

Murmuring was heard throughout the crowd. "The Colonial Viper pilot...is an expert as dismemberment." More footage played from Jachin due, of a trio of Vipers slowly taking apart a CGuE, shooting at the exposed areas of the joints, which caused the arms and legs to fall away. "He knows where to aim to cause maximum damage to your machine. And as none of our Mobile Suits besides the prototype X-series ones carry CIWS, you'd better hope you see the viper first...or your machine will be pecked apart. Questions?"

A girl wearing glasses raised her hand. "Riika."

"How come they were so effective at Jachin Due? That WAS their first time fighting Mobile Suits, after all."

Luna began chuckling before outright laughing. "Oh, THAT is funny. While that is sorta true, it's also COMPLETELY wrong." A shaky image appeared as a Model 0005 Centurion marched through the moving footage before Luna paused it. "To us, the Mobile Suit is a unique war machine. To the Colonials...not so much." She pointed at the joints of the 0005. "A model 0005 Centurion and a GuAIZ share an 84% design commonality. That applies to EVERY Mobile Suit. In a sense, the Colonials have been fighting Mobile Suits for 60 years."

There was a collective gulp among the students, causing Luna to smirk a bit. "Yeah, they have more experience dealing with large robots than we ever could hope for." She said.

"B-but clearly, there is a difference between fighting a Cylon on the ground with small arms and knives that's only a little bit larger than a human, than fighting a _mobile suit_ with nothing but fighters?" Another said.

"While there is a size difference, the Centurion and almost every Mobile Suit still share 80% design commonality. And those guns are laser-accurate. I'd know: I've flown a Mk VII in my service with the Legion. Colonial pilots are trained to use little more then unguided weapons to take down highly agile craft and they are insanely skilled at AVOIDING fire. But remember, it's not the Viper you should watch out for."

"It's not?"

"Nope!" She clicked the remote once more, and _Galactica_ appeared. "It's their carriers. Speaking of which, what's the time?"

"Uh, 06:50. Why?"

"Good! Then you all get to have your first look at the Viper, as _Galactica_ will be arriving any minute! President Roslin and Representative Athha are coming here on a goodwill visit, after all."

Luna just leaned back ' _3...2...1..._ ' she thought, before the room erupted in a panicked frenzy at the idea of the Colonials once again paying ZAFT a visit, leaving a smirking Habu ' _I love my job._ '

Outside, Shinn Asuka, wearing Colonial issue fatigues under the red coat, quirked an eyebrow at the panic inside the briefing room. "horror stories?"

"Yup. So, how's your day been, since I've been scaring the newbs?" She said.

"I ran into someone on my way here." Shinn said shruging, "A girl."

Luna smirked dangerously, putting her hands together. "Oh? Was she pretty?"

"Very-WHAT THE HELL?!"

"Come on, Shinn, you've been hanging around me and my sister for two years!" She said rolling her eyes, "We were friend-zoned day one, so I'm taking an active interest in your love life."

"Fine, she was pretty! And odd. I...well..."

"What?"

"I accidently groped her! Happy?!"

While most would not believe him, Luna did. And decided to tease him about it. "Oh? What was her size?" She asked, her smirk never leaving.

"WHY ARE YOU INTERESTED?!" Shinn shouted back, as Luna giggled.

"Because I have nothing better to do then grill you about your new girlfriend?" "SHE'S NOT MY GIRLFRIEND!" Not yet, the universe decided. Shinn groaned, facepalming. "Shouldn't we be getting to the _Minerva_? Captain Gladys will tan our hides if we don't show up." "Not that she doesn't already. Having two Legionnaries for pilots doesn't help."

* * *

Outside the colony, a flash of light signalled the arrival of ZAFT's Nightmare, the Titanium Monster.

Otherwise known as the Battlestar _Galactica_. The ship's arrival sent the token defenders into a panic, with ships being put on alert, and MS ready to deploy at a moment's notice. Sure they _knew_ to expect the Battlestar, but in the eyes of the Captains and Pilots - especially those who fought them during the last war - were _not_ taking any chances.

"Now THAT'S respect." Adama sent a warning look at Tigh. ZAFT feared and respected _Galactica_ , but fear turned to hate quickly. And hate turned to rage. "Inform the colony to expect Raptor 498. President Roslin, Representative Athha, Colonel Pinkerton and Commander Takeo will be on board."

"Yes sir - Colony informed, Raptor 498 is deploying now." Gaeta said, as a few moments later a single Raptor launched from _Galactica_ , escorted by a trio of Vipers.

The Lieutenant looked at the DRADIS, spotting what looked like a contact. "Sir, I'm picking something up on DRADIS: large contact, no IFF."

"Tell the CAP to get eyeballs on that area, Mr. Gaeta. And perform a diagnostic on the DRADIS array if nothing turns up."

"Aye, sir."

* * *

Raptor 498 - en route to Armory One

* * *

"Do you have to be so heavily armed, Colonel?"

Ron shrugged, patting his G36K/AG36. "President of the Colonies, going to a military complex in a nation that isn't so friendly?" Ron asked, "Common sense, Madam Representative. ZAFT can bitch all they like as long as the President is safe."

Roslin tapped Ron's shoulder. "Please don't talk as if I'm not here, Colonel."

"Yeah, figured that was a bad idea." The Raptor entered the airlock, landing in a parking space made for shuttles and other small craft. "Ok, people, let's get moving. Any orders if Durandal does something?"

"If he _does_ try something, weapons free." Roslin said, "Though I'd like to avoid any unnecessary confrontations for the time being."

The hatch opened, allowing them to exit the small attack transport. Durandal, predictably, was waiting for them. "President Roslin. Welcome to Armory One." Roslin shook the chairman's hand, although she still had the feeling of 'KILL IT! KILL IT WITH FIRE!' as she did so. Jaden and Ron could not blame her. "Shall we?"

* * *

Inside the military complex were three teenagers. Two were male, and one was a girl. That was rather scatterbrained, as she was dancing all over the place.

"Stella, get ready." One of the men said, as they readied their respective weapons. Stella herself drawing out a knife before the blue haired boy kicked the door open, as the three charged inside, firing their weapons catching the guards inside off guard.

"Who the fuc-" The ZAFT security personnel were not prepared for a three-man team of teenagers to charge in and start killing them one by one, but that was pretty much what happened, as they fell one by one to the onslaught.

"Idiots. Never stood a chance."

"Get moving, Sting! We can't stay here! Unless you forgot, there's a big fuckin' Battlestar hangin' outside the colony!"

"I'm going, I'm going!" Sting said as he entered the first machine, as Stella and Auel entered the other two machines, however none of them noticing one surviving ZAFT guard climbing up, and smashing his fist against the alarm.

* * *

"It is my hope that this strength we're forging here will only be used to defend the PLANTs. And, by extension, the Earth Sphere from the Cylon threat."

Cagalli began to agree with Roslin: Durandal REALLY needed to get shot. "As long as you don't get complacent." Roslin said, "The last thing we need is another war breaking out."

Alarms then began going off throughout the base. "Complacent." Ron said, rolling his eyes. "RIGHT. Madam President, please go somewhere safe."

"And where are you going?"

"To find out what the hell's going on! Jaden, you coming with?"

"Sure, I-" Jaden began to say, before one of the hangars exploded, sending debris flying everywere before stepping outside of the hangar, were three distinct mobile suits that the Orb citizens and Colonials immediately recognized.

"Fraking WONDERFUL." Ron growled, "Prototypes! Pythia, There are days I HATE YOU!" The Colonel handed Jaden a pump-action grenade launcher. "Here."

"And what exactly am I supposed to do with that against a GUNDAM?!" Jaden shouted.

"It's loaded with phosphorus-thermite rounds." Ron said. "They'll burn through the phase shift if it uses any. And what the frak is a 'gundam'?"

"Wait, no one ever told you?" Jaden asked, "During the last war, the EA made five Prototype G-weapons along with the first _Archangel_. Their Operating Systems all started up with an acronym which would spell out G.U.N.D.A.M - easier than saying 'General Unilateral Neuro-link Dispersive Autonomic Maneuver', anyways. And most Gundam's… well, look like that - V-head crest, very Samurai-looking body and all. The Providence and Freedom were Gundam's as well."

"history later, shoot now!" Ron fired his launcher at the unit with what appeared to have two large pods on the side, only the round impacted the shield. The shield, however, was enough to show off the effect of the grenade as the impacted area began to melt. "4500 degrees. Not even phase shift armor can handle the mantle of a planet." The unit, however, turned its' head at them. "Oh, frak me. RUN!"

Jaden and Ron ran from the Gundam as it fired its head vulcans towards them. "It melts, but it barley does jack shit against it, other than PISS IT OFF!" Jaden shouted, as they passed another set of hangars, causing Jaden to pause as he saw several of ZAFT's newer ZAKU's inside.

"...now _this_ is more like it." Jaden said as he ran inside, heading towards the closest ZGMF-1001 ZAKU Phantom.

"Oh, GREAT." Ron followed Jaden inside, who was followed in turn by Cagalli and a disguised Athrun Zala. Though in the opinion of both men, sunglasses did jack shit to hide who you really were. "I would KILL for the X01A, but we're not on _Galactica_ , are we?"

"Quit complaining, and GET IN A MOBILE SUIT!" Jaden shouted as he rose up to the cockpit of the ZAKU Phantom, and began running it through its startup sequence.

Explosions became the norm for the interior of the colony as the three units began shooting at anything that moved. "OK, IFF IDs these bastards as ZGMFs X24S Chaos, X31S Abyss, X88S Gaia? What the hell? Can't those idiots number their machines properly?! That just causes logistical chaos!"

Jaden facepalmed, while ZAFT's numbering system was odd, it _did_ have some practical sense to it. "Ok, kid, I'm fit with something called a 'Gunner pack'." Ron said. "Probably their version of the Launcher. What about you?"

"Slash Pack, I've got dual gatling guns and a big ass axe." Jaden informed, as the Slash ZAKU Phantom's monoeye lit up. "Come on, let's go!"

* * *

 **Battlestar Galactica - CIC**

* * *

Gaeta had just run a systems diagnostic of the DRADIS array and even restarted the system twice. The contact was still there. "Sir, we still have that contact on DRADIS. I'm starting to think it's not a ghost."

Tigh growled as he shook his head. "What, fraking thing's a Mirage Colloid-equipped ship?"

"Seems that way, Colonel." Adama grabbed the handset, keying the PA. "All hands, this is the Admiral. Action Stations. All hands to condition one!" Alarms began going off throughout the ship. "Mr. Gaeta, have batteries alpha through delta target your 'ghost'. Dualla, contact the ZAFT defense forces: tell them we're picking up a contact, possibly using Mirage Colloid."

"Yes sir, I-" Gaeta said, before he blinked, "Wait, sir I'm getting a report from Raptor 498! They're saying the colony is under attack from the inside!"

"Galactica _Actual, this is Warsong!_ " One of their CAP Vipers announced, " _I've got explosions coming from the Armory One ship ports! I'm seeing Black Dagger L's attacking, and-WHOA! Where did THAT come from?! A bunch of green Gotfried beams just shot out of nowhere!_ "

"I think we're justified in opening fire. Load flak rounds! I want that ship disabled! Launch our viper and Mobile suit teams!"

* * *

Shinn Asuka was in a foul mood. A VERY foul mood. First, three people hijacked the Gaia, Abyss and Chaos, then started shooting at everything. Then Psycho and Commander Takeo, plus some third guy, hijacked a bunch of ZAKUs to stop them. And now there was a hole in the colony.

He was tempted to slam his head against the ZGMF-X42S Impulse's controls until he was unconscious. ' _Seriously, why the hell is everyone so fucking eager to KILL ONE ANOTHER?!_ '

" _Oi! X42S Impulse! This is Colonel Ronald Pinkerton, Colonial callsign Psycho! Respond! your three sister machines are running off!_ " Shinn heard the oh-so familiar voice of the Colonial Colonel.

"This is Shinn Asuka of ZAFT, Callsign Orphan." Shinn said, "I'm reading you Colonel, good to hear from you again!"

" _It's a small universe. I've gotten in contact with_ Galactica _: there's a warship out there, equipped with Mirage Colloid. Whether or not these assholes are Alliance or not is irrelevant: I think helping getting those things back where they belong is more important. Can you get in contact with your ZAFT CO? We need to coordinate our efforts_."

Shinn tried to not laugh at the poor pun. "I'm on it." He said, "The _Minerva_ should be getting ready to launch, anyways: Captain Gladys doesn't exactly tolerate things going down the drain."

He then activated the Comm to the _Minerva_. "This is pilot Asuka to _Minerva_ , you copy?" He asked, "I'm in contact with a few Colonial pilots - they claim they've discovered a ship outside the colony that's hidden in Mirage Colloid."

The face of his captain appeared on one of the auxiliary monitors. "Damn it. I hate working with Adama, but if it's the only way we're going to get those stolen machines back, I'll do it just this once. Get me in contact with Galactica!"

* * *

The KEW-1H 600cm twin heavy railgun can fire an 8-ton projectile at one-ten thousandth the speed of light if the capacitors were at full charge. Most of the time, they were not. They could be loaded with armor-piecing high-explosive rounds, flak, or heavy slugs.

In this case, Ian Lee was getting the living hell pounded out of the Girty Lue by no fewer then 20 of those damned guns, all of which were firing flak rounds. "Disengage the cloak! Get us the fuck out of their weapons range!"

"Aye Captain!" said the helmsman, and as soon as the Mirage Colloid was off the ship began to veer away from the Galactica and those guns.

"The infiltration team is making their way out of the PLANT, Captain." More alarms started going off. "Galactica is launching Vipers! And Mobile Suits! IDed as CDF-01 Darts, CDF-02 Ramumesas, one GAT-X03 Gladius! And...X131 Calamity, X370 Raider, X252 Forbidden!"

Ian eyes widened in surprise at that, "The machines that were missing two years ago!?" he said.

"Their signatures match, sir," said the sensor operator, "No doubt about it,"

"Maximum burn! Get us into the debris field, and recall our Mobile Suits. We don't have a chance in hell against the Galactica." Sir, Mirage Colloid's useless against their DRADIS." "Their DRADIS will be too cluttered for accurate readings. Full speed ahead!"

* * *

The Gaia, Abyss and Chaos were incredibly busy against the Impulse and the two ZAKUs. Ron was engaging the Chaos, Jaden the Gaia and Shinn the Abyss. Thankfully, they were getting reinforced.

"Shit! Fuck! Shit!" Jaden shouted as he used his machine's shoulder shield to bounce the Gaia's attack's off as it continued to try and slice him in half. "Will you just buzz off and die already?!"

A red beam nearly hit the Gaia, which banked to try and follow it when it fled. "Hey, guys! Heard you guys were having a party without us!"

Jaden breathed a sigh of relief as a Will's GAT-03X along with the three 2nd Generation G-Weapons, and all of Galactica's Viper Wings moved in reinforcement.

"FRAK!" Ron's ZAKU was badly damaged as the Chaos fired its' shoulder cannons and beam rifle to tear off the MS's left arm and both legs. "Krypter, krypter, krypter! This is Psycho: Galactica, I need to land and I need to land NOW!"

"I'll cover ya Ron!" Jaden said as his Phantom moved alongside his, as he fired his dual gating guns at the ZAFT G-weapons pursuing.

The three machines retreated from the fight, heading back to the unknown contact. "Hey! Get back here!" "This is Galactica Actual. All planes, return to Galactica. Enemy carrier is in retreat. We're pursuing."

A smaller warship launched out from Armory One, the IFF in Jaden's machine IDing it as the Minerva.

"ZAFT's new warship, huh?" he heard Will say on the radio, "Looks like a certain winged whale,"

" _This is the_ Minerva. _Don't start, Captain._ Galactica, _we're going to be relying on you for tracking Bogey One. I hope to God that your DRADIS is as good as you claim it is._ "

"It is, Captain. All Colonial units, land on Galactica. Raptor 489, return to Ptolemaeus before making contact with Battlestar Group 75." The sole Raptor jumped away before the Minerva linked up with Galactica, recovering any Mobile Suit that strayed away.

* * *

 **OMNI Enforcer Phantom Pain stealth recon carrier Girty Lue**

* * *

Ian was not relaxed. Galactica was on their tail. While they were outside weapons range of the unholy monster, being faster then the giant battlestar, a simple FTL jump would ruin any and all attempts at escape.

"Problems, Captain?" Hachi Sanagiayama floated onto the bridge, looking at the monitors. "Oh. We're being chasd by Galactica. How exciting!"

"How can you call this exciting!?" Ian said in frustration and aggravation, "We're being chased by ONE of the largest vessels in the Earth Sphere!"

"THAT, in and of itself makes it exciting. The firepower. The size! And of course, those wonderful FTL drives. We either escape or we die. It gets the heart pumping! Can you tell the deck people to prep my Exus? I'd like to test my mettle against those Viper pilots from Galactica." The man was stupid. the Exus might've been better then the Moebius, but those Vipers were more agile by far.

"The brass wouldn't like if you damaged the Exus, it's still a prototype," Ian argued.

"Oh, they can complain all they want. All I want is to take down those...fearsome little Vipers." Phantom Pain took in the best of the best the Alliance had to offer. They also took in the odd cases.

* * *

 **Battlestar Galactica**

* * *

"We have confirmation on the ship's identity. Jaden's sources call the ship the Girty Lue. She's apparently a Blue Cosmos-allied warship. Meaning the main branch of OMNI Enforcer had nothing to do with this."

"Figures that those Extremist would be behind this theft," Tigh growled out, having just enough of the Environmental-turned-terrorist group.

"They've got the edge in maneuverability and speed. Non-factors if we could just jump ahead of them."

"Psycho, don't be stupid. One wrong number and we'd be inside a piece of rock!" Ron sent Tigh a look of 'no shit, dumbass'. "I said 'if'."

"Our best bet would be to have the _Minerva_ move in after them, with MS teams hunting through the debris..." Jaden said, "But without DRADIS those MS and the _Minerva_ would be easy picking for ambushes."

"There's the nuclear option." Ron said shrugging.

"We don't have enough to clear the belt." Tigh said, "And everyone would cry foul."

Adama hmmed. "Colonel."

"Sir?"

"Those missiles of yours. Are they ready?"

"We have a few hundred of them. Why?"

"Fit our Vipers with as many as they can carry. And send out our Raptors: they might be able to cut through the local muck."

"If your talking about the Titanomachy, the missile's won't mean anything if they sneak up behind you." Jaden warned, "With all of that debris, its gonna be hard distinguishing what's debris and what's an enemy. We'll have to rely on the Mark-I eyeball more than anything."

"Our pilots are trained for that. We've faced a similar problem before."

"Admiral Adama refers to what's called the 'Scar Incident'." Ron said, "A single Raider picked off our pilots one by one until Captain Thrace and Captain Katrine finally managed to kill the damn thing. We increased asteroidal training after that. This will not be a problem. Catching up to that ship, on the other hand, will."

"We better get to work in slowing it down then," said Will.

* * *

 **LHM-BB01** _ **Minerva**_

* * *

Luna stared at Galactica as they flew alongside. "This ship has so much better technology. It's faster, more agile and actually built to service Mobile Suits. But given a choice between the Minerva and Galactica..." She lowered her head. "I'd choose _Galactica_."

"Still haven't gotten over her?" Vino Dupre said as he floated up next to Luna, watching as _Galactica_ prowled forward.

"Look at that ship." She said, "60 years of history. Makes everything we've done look...pathetic. Look at us, fighting one another over something so stupid as genetic engineering when they colonized an entire solar system, and even spread beyond. It's...well. You get the idea."

"What, that they're better then us?" Vino asked, but Luna shook her head.

"No. That they don't care about differences." She said, "They only hate the Cylons out of fear. And they're getting over it. Slowly, but it's happening. And look at us. 'For the preservation of our blue and pure world'. 'Coordinators are the next step in humanity's evolution'. They grew past that crap. We haven't. What do you think?"

"Fair point," Vino said shrugging as he sighed, "Though they've been doing this all for a lot longer than we have, we're newcomers compared to them."

"Maybe, but they had genetic engineering centuries before we did, and they didn't give a damn. It was a fad: it came, it went. As far as they're concerned, we're being stupid." "All personnel, report to your posts. Set alert status to level one." Luna smiled. "And we're back on the clock."

* * *

On the _Girty Lue_ , Lee attempted to find a way to engage _Galactica_ without getting their asses handed to them. Missiles were out of the question, as were beams for one combined reason: that damned flak barrier.

The only option they had was to navigate the debris belt until they reached the densest areas, then engage Mirage Colloid. Galactica's DRADIS would be so screwed over by the clutter that they could make it back to Daedalus without trouble.

"Incoming ordinance!" The _Girty Lue_ shook from a flak round exploding just off the ship's port side. "to hell with this. Launch our Mobile Suits!"

* * *

 **Battlestar Galactica**

* * *

" _All Mobile Suit teams and Red Squadron, prepare for launch. Garnet Squadron, prepare for launch._ "

Jaden climbed into the cockpit of his YMW-JG72X Ramumesa, which the CCE named the 'CDF-X02' for testing purposes. Sure, it lacked the enhanced batteries the dart did, but it was good enough. " _All players, Psycho: our job is to capture the_ Girty Lue _and recapture those prototype Mobile Suits. Dart teams, try not to do anything stupid just to mock the Ramumesa flyers. Jaden, you're on my wing._ "

"You got it Pyscho," Jaden said, as the Ramumesa launched out of starboard flight pod of _Galactica_ alongside Ron's dart, speeding out into space along with the others.

While Galactica's new loadout seemed to be working, it wasn't acceptable by any standard. The older battlestars just weren't designed for Mobile Suit operations.

Hence why the Admiral was going to finally allow Galactica to retire with full honors when Jaden and Ron FINALLY froze Polaris' design and began construction.

" _Commander, this is Athena: we've got that ship on DRADIS, bearing 014 carom 359. And we've got company! They're launching Mobile Suits!_ "

"We've got e'm," Jaden said, as his machine accelerated towards the debris using it for cover. "We're at an even playing field here everyone, use the debris to your advantage for cover! Our sensors may have trouble picking them up, but so will theirs with all this junk around us!"

"All Vipers, weapons free!"

The Dagger Ls fired on the Colonial and ZAFT MS and attack craft, attempting to hit and destroy them before they entered accurate weapons range for their titanomachy missiles. As usual, they continued to underestimate the small size and agility of the Vipers, as they dodged using the debris as shields, the plasma doing nothing but hit rocks. "Hot Dog, weapons lock! Fox Two!" A SIM-6 Archer left the Mk II's wing, impacting on a Dagger's shield nigh-harmlessly. It did, however, blind it long enough for Jaden to get close.

The Ramumesa fired its 55mm Beam gatling gun into the back of the Dagger L, tearing the machine to pieces before he transformed his machine to Mobile Suit mode, flanking left to avoid a swarm of missiles fired his way, firing his gatling gun to shoot the missiles down as they came. "Yeehaw!" He shouted before flipping over to Guardian mode as he fired a swarm of his own missiles at the incoming Dagger L's, forcing them to either take cover or get shot down. "Now we're talking!"

The MP Ramumesas weren't as successful as Jaden's prototype, as one was nearly destroyed by a Dagger L mid-transformation, needing Starbuck's Mk VII to save the pilot from an embarrassing death. "Status on the Girty Lue!"

"It's getting deeper into the debris belt! FRAK! I've lost my lock on it!" Beams shot past both Jaden and Ron, giving the former flashbacks to Jachin Due and the Providence. "Oh, NOW what?!" A sleek Mobile Armor shot through the formation, taking down Kat's Mk III and forcing her to eject. "What the hell is that thing?!"

"Oh son of a… its an Exus!" Jaden shouted as he and Ron were forced to dodge beam shots from multiple directions. "Its a modern equivilent to the Moebius Zero!"

" _Meaning?!_ " Ron asked.

"Its a Space Fighter that has DRAGOON Gunbarrels like the Providence!" Jaden shouted as he used the debris for covered.

"HAHAHA! Come out to PLAY, little Vipers!" The larger fighter fired on the smaller Colonial strike craft, yelling over the wireless about them 'not being any fun' by running away. "Great, we have a fraking nutcase. Minerva, can you send out your MS teams and help kill this fraker?!"

" _Negative, right now all of our mobile suits are engaging with the prototypes._ " Meyrin reported, " _You'll have to deal with the new contact on your own._ "

"Frak! Jaden, cover me: I'm going to reconfigure my Titanomachies to take out those gunbarrels. Without them, it's just an oversized target with beam cannons."

"Oh, SURE, Colonel. And while you're busy, I'm stuck dealing with the fraking Providence's cousin!" Starbuck's annoyance could be understood easily: the Vipers were having a hard enough time with the enemy Mobile Suits and the debris; a DRAGOON/gunbarrel unit made matters worse.

"I've got you covered!" Jaden shouted, switching back to MS mode as he began firing his 55mm Gatling at the Exus's Dragoon pods. "Stay… Still you quick bastards!"

Starbuck's Mk VII fired at another gunbarrel, destroying one of the beam cannons before the other one clipped her port wing. "Frak! Krypter, krypter, krypter! Galactica, request permission to land! I've got a bent bird!"

"Get back to the barn, Starbuck! Psycho, Fox Four-Two!" Four Titanomachy missiles left the underside of the X01 Dart, heading for the gunbarrels, which did their best to hit the agile remote weapons but failed as they exploded to prevent them from being captured by the enemy. While their RCS thrusters were precise and powerful enough to make the Titanomachy almost impossible to dodge for a Mobile Suit, for a DRAGOON, not so much.

"Frak!" Ron shouted, before several beams from the gunbarrels shot back at them.

"Son of a - fuck this! Ron, cover me!" Jaden shouted as he moved out of his cover, and towards the fighter.

"Jaden! What the hell are you-" Ron began to shout, as the Exus's Dragoon's fired at the Ramumesa... however it was as if Jaden had eyes on the back of his head as he dodged the Dragoon's behind him, before spinning around and firing at them, forcing the Dragoon's to dodge. He continued to chase after the Exus, all the while dodging and shooting back at the incoming Dragoons as if he knew where they'd be before they were actually there. "...the frack?"

" _The pilot of the Exus is a Newtype..._ " Jordan informed, " _So am I… I'll keep this guy busy on me, you try and get behind him and take him out!_ "

"Copy that. Athena, status on the prototypes?" "I lost my DRADIS lock, sir. They're too deep in the debris. Same with the Girty Lue." "Frak." Ron eyed the Exus, transforming into MS mode before activating the XDEW-1A's DMR mode, allowing him to fire more accurate shots at the expense of firing rate. 'But I don't NEED more bullets to disable you, you asshole.' He pressed the central firing button, firing a single 50mm beam round into the Exus' rear thrusters, sending the plane into an uncontrolled spin.

" _Gah! I underestimated you!_ " The pilot cursed as he flew away, " _But don't expect our next encounter to be so easy!_ "

"There won't BE a next encounter, asshole! Get back here and DIE!" "All Colonial units, return to Galactica. Repeat, all Colonial units, return to Galactica. We have another problem." "What's next, the sky falling?"

* * *

 **Battlestar Galactica - 30 minutes later, Adama's Quarters**

* * *

Talia Gladys nervously glanced through the gravity-equipped halls of Galactica, escorted by Luna and Shinn as well as three Colonial Marines carrying Cx4s. Luna smiled as she stepped forward, opening the hatch to the Admiral's quarters, where the Colonial officers and Jaden were currently having a meeting, with Tigh looking rather smug. "We fraking told you people 2 years ago." He said, "But NO, no one listens to the experienced people."

"To be fair, Saul, they weren't expecting this to happen." Ron said.

"Don't give those jackasses on the Council from poppycock excuse, Pinkerton." Tigh said, "They fraked up."

"Junius Seven is considered a memorial sight after the war," Jaden said sighing as he rubbed his forehead, "No one wanted to blow it up, and its orbit was stable enough that this _shouldn't_ of happened. But we thankfully have countermeasures in case something like this happened."

"What's going on here?" Talia asked, still out of the loop of the situation.

"We got a message from the PLANT's and the EA." Adama explained, "Junius Seven's orbit has altered drastically. Now it's on a collision course with the Earth, and I don't need to tell you the kind of devastation someting as large as J7 would cause if it does hit the Earth."

"Don't worry, I have a plan." Jordan said, "All we need to do is slingshot around the moon first, then land on it before we start drilling, drop the nuclear bomb off, and leave Bruce Willis behind." This got odd glances from the others, as he sighed. "For the love of… AM I THE ONLY ONE WHO'S SCENE ARMAGEDDON IN THIS WORLD?!"

"Or the Twelve, apparently. I haven't had the time."

"Doesn't matter, Commander." Adama said, "I'm sending a Raptor to _Yashuman_ with instructions to pick up the equipment. If all else fails, I'll set all of _Galactica's_ nukes to their maximum yield and use them to break up the colony before the dominion uses her positron cannons to mop up."

Talia shook her head. "No. That's a war grave! You can't just destroy it!"

Ron gave her a look. "I cleaned up 3500 bodies off the Battlestar _Archeron_ before we salvaged it." He said, "That was a war grave, too. It was also a navigational hazard. That colony is an environmental hazard, and should've been dealt with by ZAFT after the end of the war. I hope your council is ready to deal with the consequences."

Talia still didn't like it, but sighed "They won't like it… but if anyone is going to do this, it will be ZAFT… _not_ the Colonials. "

"You fraking idiots were incompetent enough to let it stay there for two years. If anyone's going to deal with this and deal with it fast, it'll be us." Adama sent a 'shut up' glare at Tigh.

"If ZAFT's attempt fails, we'll be the backup plan." He said, "Colonel Pinkerton."

"Sir."

"Set the nukes to their highest yield, and send that Raptor to the Dominion." He said, "We'll need those antimatter cannons of theirs to destroy the remains of the colony. If anything goes wrong, we'll all be to blame. Us for not destroying that thing when we got here, ZAFT for not dealing with the colony after the war, and the Alliance for nuking it in the first place. Captain Gladys, Commander Takeo, I'd like to speak with you in private. the rest of you are dismissed."

Both the captain and Jaden rose an eyebrow, before they followed Adama to his quarters to speak with him.

"Galactica will act as the Minerva's support for this operation of yours. Earth's the 13th Colony: I'm not just going to sit on the sidelines and let something threaten it."

Talia looked into Adama's eyes, unrelentingly. "and I don't want the help of a Colonial ship." She growled, " _Galactica_ destroyed my first command."

"Put your pride aside, Captain. I don't like ZAFT or their anti-Natural policy. But I'm willing to work alongside you and your crew to end this threat. We all need to once Cavil finds Earth. He's not going to pull punches. He won't care who is who. Can I count on you for that?"

Talia still didn't look totally convinced, but she knew that right now she wasn't in a position to argue. They had a much bigger issue than her old Grudge. "Fine." She said.

Adama nodded before looking at Jaden "I want you to head over to _Minerva_ , help coordinate our efforts." He said, "Most of ZAFT still doesn't like us afterall, so I think they'll be more trusting of someone from the Junk Guild."

"Admiral, it's common knowledge that you've turned the Junk Guild into your new Corps of Engineers. We've seen-"

"What you've seen, Captain, is a misunderstanding." Adama said, "The Guild is not part of the Colonial military. The new CCE is made up of volunteer designers and engineers from the civilian fleets and anyone from Earth that didn't want to be drawn into a war. Thank you for your time, Captain. It's my understanding that your ship is small enough to fit inside one of our flight pods with those wings retracted."

"Uh...yes. my ship barely breaks 160 meters. Why?"

"Time's of the essence. Pack your ship inside one of the flight pods, and we'll jump to Junius 7. Secure the area for your breakup teams."

"Secure?" Talia asked, "But-"

"Something like Junius Seven doesn't just randomly start drifting towards earth like that," Jaden said, "Newton's laws of motion: An object in motion will stay at motion unless an outside force acts upon it. It couldn't of been a meteor without us noticing, nor is there any random chunks of debris large enough to nudge its orbit… I gamble someone _caused_ this, and when we get over there… we're gonna find out who."

"And once we do...there will be blood." Talia nervously chuckled at the dangerous tone in adama's voice. "You don't like colony drops that much."

"When all Earth has multiple drops in a span of 10 years, you'll get how we feel, Captain. Earth has been spared that horror. I intend to keep it that way."

"Yes, sir." Talia froze before she realized what she saw and quickly left Adama's quarters. "She'd make a fine battlestar commander if she didn't hate me so much."

"Give her time," Jaden said shrugging, "We just need to prove to her the Colonials aren't as bad as she believes."

"I hope so."

* * *

 **ZAFT battleship Minerva**

* * *

Luna and Shinn stood in front of a large number of crewmen on the hangar deck. "Now, FTL jumps are VERY screwy on the human sense of balance." Luna explained as the _Minerva_ prepared to dock inside _Galactica_. "Your equilibrium will be all out of whack."

"So?"

Shinn handed Rey a sick bag. "I think this explains everything." He said, "If not, some of you will feel as though you need to vomit. Happened to a few of our pilots during my first jump on the Thera Sita. Don't be embarrassed."

"It can't be THAT bad..." Vino said, as Jaden chuckled, shaking his head.

"Believe me kid, it _can_ be that bad if your not prepared." He said, "Just be prepared to feel sick, but _also_ prepare for an emergency sortie if we immediately run into hostiles."

"It'll get worse as time goes on." Heads turned to face an unexpected Colonial guest. "If you people can't take a couple of jumps, then you have VERY little future in deep space. The sickness fades in time." "Colonel, what are you doing here?" "I'm here to supervise offloading a few presents. The Minerva's going to be packing a few Class-Ds."

"Class-Ds?" "Nuclear missiles. I'm here to help replace the warheads on a few of the missiles, replace them with the nuclear devices."

"Nukes?"

"There is every chance that ZAFT's plan will not work. The nukes are Plan B. And as any idiot knows, Plan A never works."

"If we're lucky, Plan A _does_ work, and we won't have to resort to that." Jaden said, "But our number one priority is to ensure the safety of Earth! If that colony hits, we're talking about an extinction event on par with what wiped out the Dinosaurs 75 Million years ago."

"An event that happened twelve times back in Cyrannus, and took us decades to fix. And even if none of you give two fraks about earth, remember, Junius 7 is, was and always shall be the responsibility of the PLANTs. So keep THAT in mind, and try to keep your lunches down."

"Get to your stations people!" Jaden said, "We're jumping in six minutes! So if your a pilot get in a machine, everyone else… get ready to loose your lunch for a second!"

Everyone began walking off, heading to their posts before Jaden turned to Ron. "What the hell was that about?"

"The PLANTs ARE responsible for Junius 7. If Tauron dropped that thing on Caprica, then they would have to answer for it. Same goes here: PLANTs are responsible for Junius 7; as such, if that colony hit Earth, they will have to answer for it."

"So, even if it's a ZAFT splinter faction like the one that attacked _Galactica_ , you'd still blame the main ZAFT government for something they had no control over?" Jaden asked.

"I'm blaming them for not taking care of this colony before this incident, not for the drop. I just hope the Alliance sees it my way and goes 'you were stupid, don't let this happen again'. Then again, most of Earth lacks their heads being screwed on right." On THAT jaden couldn't argue.

* * *

Talia looked at the maw that was Galactica's starboard flight pod entrance. It was just large enough to let them in. "Ok, let's get this thing inside. Steady hands, Malik." the wings retracted as the Minerva entered the pod, the central tower barely clearing the top of the pod. "Never ask me to do this in combat, Captain."

"Never." The ship came to a stop before the feeling of weight grabbed hold of them and the pods began to retract.

"Galactica _to_ Minerva: _We are about to commence FTL Jump._ " Gaeta informed them on the Comm. " _T-Minus 1 Minute._ "

"Copy, Galactica. See you on the other side, Mr. Gaeta." Talia let out a breath as the pod retracted all the way. "Meyrin?" "Yes, ma'am?" "how...does it feel when you jump?" "Like being born, Captain. You'll understand." She keyed the intercom. "Clock is running. 15 seconds to jump." Talia had never experienced a jump, and now...she was VERY nervous. "Five, four, three, two, one. Jump!" The world stretched, contracted, compressed and extended all at once. Then it was over.

... and Talia felt as if her insides were trying to kill her, as her face turned green along with everyone else on the bridge… except for Meyrin, who scoffed going right back to her duties. "Lightweights..." she muttered.

"How the hell can-"

"I felt uncomfortable my first jump, but that faded. You should try being target practice in a Raptor while it's prepping for a jump. THAT'S horrible." The pod began to extend, and as soon as it was clear, the battleship flew out of the battlestar. "Alright. Let's...get this over with. Launch Mobile Suits. Coordinate...with Galactic-" She paused before vomiting into a sick bag. "With...Galactica's...Vipers...Oh, I don't feel so good."

* * *

" _Due to the status of Captain Pukes-a-Lot, orders are: coordinate with_ Galactica's _Viper teams. And try not to cause an interstellar war, people: last thing we need are the Colonials tossing nukes at the PLANTs._ "

Luna chuckled as her ZAKU was moved onto the catapult. "Copy that, Meyrin. Commander Takeo, I'll follow you."

" _Got it, Habu._ " Jaden said, " _Let's roll out!_ " The Ramumesa and Gunner ZAKU Warrior launched from out of the _Minerva_ , as the Impulse headed out as well.

"DRADIS online," Jaden said, as he looked at the screen, before sighing. "I was right - we've got multiple Mobile Suits within the debris - ZGMF-1017M2 GiNN High Maneuver Type II's."

" _You've got to be kidding me. GINN HM-2s don't stand a chance in Hades against a Colonial battlestar or a ZAFT battleship, let alone both at the same time._ "

"Ease off, Starbuck." The Colonial force began making a BarCAP of the area, daring the GINNs to move in. " _This is Admiral William Adama of the Colonial Naval Defense Force, commanding the battlestar Galactica of Battlestar Group Seventy-Five. You are ordered to leave this area immediately. Failure to do so will result in hostile action._ "

" _This is Commander Sato - you will not deny us our mission!_ " Came the almost immediate response, " _My Daughter's tombstone will be what destroys those damned patchworkers once and for all!_ "

"Fraking retards. All forces, Psycho. Kill the bastards. time to send a message." The Vipers broke off from their BarCAP, arming their Titanomachia. "Starbuck, Fox Four-Two!" Two missiles left the Mk VII's underwing hardpoints, heading straight for the GINNs. "You think a couple of missiles will stop us?!" "Shoot them down, dumbass, then you can talk!"

The GINN HM-2s attempted to do just that, firing their 120mm machine guns at the Titanomachia, but, due to the advanced RCS controls, were impossible to hit. Terminal guidance locked in, and the missiles moved in at speeds far too fast to track before impacting and destroying the old Mobile Suits.

" _Damn! Its another one of those Colonial wonder weapons!_ " One of the Radicals shouted, as they took cover within the Debris field. " _They just keep pulling shit like this out of their asses!_ "

The GINNs decided to take the long route to make sure Junius 7 hit Earth, staying out of Galactica's firing range. "Where the hell do they get this crap?! It took years to make the GINN!" "Doesn't matter! Make sure they can't get an accurate lock on you and they can't hurt you!" A dark chuckle was heard over the comm. "Oh, that's what YOU think."

The Vipers were following them, firing their 30mm cannons at the mobile suits, scoring hits on the lightly protected joints. "Damn it! Get closer to Junius 7!"

" _Wish granted!_ " shouted a voice as the Gladius, and the other Mobile suits under Will's command went after the HM-2's and proceeded to deal death to any who cross their path.

"YOU'RE TERMINATED!" Shouted Clotho as he fired his MJOLNIR at a GiNN, which slammed into it's cockpit.

"No! You bastards will not stop us! Our grief, our rage MUST be delivered!" A Dart impaled another GINN, but the commander's unit started putting out a signal. "Galactica to all units: we're picking up a heat bloom from Junius 7. Fraking bastards must've planted more flare motors! Orbital decay is increasing."

"Oh son of a… " Jaden muttered, before he hit a few commands of his own, sending a message. "I didn't want to do this… but desperate times. Ron! _Galactica_ , you need to GTFO of the following firing path!"

" _What are you talking about?_ " Adama said, " _Takeo, we need to-_ "

"Admiral - just trust me!" Jaden shouted, "This won't stop all of it, but it'll do the best we can!"

" _All players, Psycho: break, break, break! RTB for Galactica or jump to rendezvous coordinates!_ "

Adama - relenting - decided to trust Jaden's judgement as he recalled their teams, as the _Minerva_ pulled back as well as the colony drew closer to earth.

" _H-hey! There retreating!_ " One of the Radicals shouted, " _We did it!_ "

"Hardly." Jaden growled, as a small red laser from his MS's forehead painted the Junius 7 Colony, making sure _everyone_ could hear him. "You think you're the only ones who lost something at Junius Seven, during that whole damned war? You think that alone gives you all the justification in the world to pass judgement to every last human being on Earth?"

"One man tried that before… and he nearly brought the total extinction to our entire species." He continued, "Shame we were so similar in some ways, both of us spending so much time screaming in outrage, vengeance, despair… both of us experienced terrible wrongs which set us on our paths. But there were more differences than similarities… but there was one higher than the rest. We both looked into the Abyss, but when it looked back at us… Rau blinked."

Gaeta looked at the DRADIS screen in front of him. "Sir, massive gamma ray surge incoming!" Adama's eyes widened until he realized what it was. "Spool up FTL drives! Get us out of here! Refit or not, Galactica can't survive a gamma ray laser blast!"

The crew did just that, as the Galactica jumped away, just as an looming structure appeared. And thousands of kilometers away, the Gamma Ray blast from GENESIS Alpha arrived. The beam passed through Junius 7, finishing in an ironic way, as a ZAFT weapon was used to destroy a PLANT's remains. None of the rebels survived the beam, but the debris would begin to rain on Earth. They were all going to catch hell for this.

* * *

 **Battlestar Pegasus**

* * *

"Debris course plotted, Commander." Shaw pointed at the new monitor built into the plotting table. "Debris will land in Europe, Asia, Africa and the Americas." Lee winced. "All areas affiliated with the Earth Alliance. Oh, boy."

Shaw sighed at the outcome, "This incident is gonna lead to a new war," she said, "A war we don't NEED at all."

"Sir, message from Ptolemaeus Crater. The President wants us to escort her to Aprilius One for a meeting with Chairman Durandal."

"Why Pegasus? Colonial One can do it." hoshi shrugged. "Well, sir, the order was for BSG-62."

"Which we are the flagship of. Major Shaw, plot a jump back to Ptolemaeus, and inform Danu Actual to jump to the PLANTs with the rest of the battlegroup." Why an ex-ZAFT Nazca-Class destroyer was second in command to Pegasus was...mindboggling.

* * *

 **Battlestar** _ **Galactica**_ **\- geosync orbit over Orb**

* * *

The Minerva was getting ready to undock and leave the ship, but Talia was going to pay a visit to Admiral Adama first before her ship left.

They fought well together, despite her dislike of _Galactica_ , which, to be honest, was misguided. For nine months, the battlestar was guardian and provider for 75 civilian ships. The clincher, though...was the hallway. When she first saw it, she wondered why so many photos were hanging from the bulkheads.

"Everyone who was left behind..." A voice behind her said, as she turned and saw Adama approach her, looking at the wall of photos. "There's not a soul on this ship who didn't lose someone when the Cylons attacked our homes… fathers, mothers, brothers, sisters, sons, daughters… "

Talia nodded, looking at the wall. "Reminds me of the memorial for Junius Seven..." she said, "Losing over two hundred thousand people… plenty of people across the PLANT's lost loved ones… "

"50 billion people were nuked to hell. Plenty of rage directed at the bastards that did it. My wife died during those attacks. And it might've been my fault."

"What?" She faced the Admiral, who stared at a picture of a woman of Greek descent that wore a Colonial uniform with gold piping.

"I was part of a mission on _Valkyrie_." He said, "I sent a pilot over the line. Three years later, armageddon. I interrogated a Cylon about it a few weeks ago. She didn't give me any straight answers."

"That...doesn't matter." Talia said, "You didn't fire those nukes. You didn't murder 50 billion people. They were probably plotting that since the end of the war!"

"Maybe." He said, "But that doesn't mean I didn't give them the excuse." He plucked the photo off the wall. "This is Helena Cain. She used to command Pegasus. The Cylon I spoke with killed her. With full rights, too."

Talia looked at Adama confused, "You… agreed with the Cylon?" She asked.

"She was one of their sleepers, like Boomer, only she was always aware of what she really was… when she revealed her true allegiance though, Cain had her locked up, tortured, interrogated… and used like a play thing for her crew."

"What."

"Tortured. Raped. By the time Pegasus met up with Galactica, she was catatonic. And when she learned we were going to destroy a Resurrection ship, she gleefully provided intel in exchange..."

"For what?"

"Death." He said, "Permanent death. Dr. Baltar let her loose, and she made her way to Cain's quarters. Put a bullet into her head."

"Where… where is this Cylon...now?" Talia asked, fearing the worst.

"Gina Inviere, the Cylon, somehow ended up with the Demand Peace movement, a group of radical extremists that… well, demand peace with the Cylons, surrendering to them rather than running." Adama said, with a slight roll of his eyes. "But after we found her, we gave her over to the Junk Guild, they're putting her through rehab to take care of her… suicidal tendencies, and her fear of intimate contact."

"Good Christ. And the rest of the people that did this to her?" When Colonel Pinkerton found out... let's just say they suffered. I do not allow torture and rape on any of my ships. Ever." "And that 'suffering'?" "They were scum of the earth. I didn't like it. but it was mostly psychological in nature."

"Good to know. Thank you, Admiral." Both saluted the other before they went on their separate ways.

"God, he's making me question being in ZAFT."

* * *

 **Raptor 498**

* * *

"'Just another trip to Delta Canopis', he says." Ron grumbled as he sat in the Raptor's cockpit. "'The Colonial government will get top dollar for yard services', whatever the hell that means." Two more flipped switches readied the Raptor for flight. Thudding was heard as Jaden entered the Raptor. "You're late. I was about to leave without you."

"Yeah well when you fire a Gamma Ray weapon at a falling Colony, you get a shit-ton of calls from everyone around the earth sphere." Jaden said with a sigh, "Damned EA… did you know we found a _virus_ in GENESIS? One of the Cylons pointed it out when we were doing maintenance, damned thing was programmed to redirect Alpha to fire at earth - and I'll give you two guesses where we traced the Virus too."

"An Alliance ship. Could be worse. I just got a call from CSS: ZAFT and OMNI Enforcer ignored the treaty and have been building a LOT of new ships. Guess we spooked them." The Raptor left the pad before Ron activated the long-range drive before spooling up. "Is it me, or is everything just getting WORSE because the Colonial Fleet's here?"

"Worse in some areas… better in others." Jaden said, "Your arrival and the existence of the Cylons opened up the entire galaxy to us, showing us Earth isn't the only planet with humanoid life, showed us we could reach out towards the stars… and for better or worse, it sparked technological innovations across the Earth sphere in ZAFT, the EA, Orb… everywhere, where we've been stagnating for nearly a decade because of the Coordinator controversy. If we can take care of the radicals on both sides… I think all of us together can forge a better future than any of us thought possible before. We're all stuck in this galaxy together afterall, we were all born here and made of star stuff, might as well make the most of it."

Ron rose an eyebrow "Star stuff?" He asked.

"Carl Sagan said that, a famous astronomer and science communicator from the 20th Century." Jaden said, "He and people like Stephen Hawking, Bill Nye and Neil deGrasse Tyson were my idols growing up… back then I use to dream making my own space ship, going out into the galaxy, exploring all I could… then shit went down, and my parents… then the war started and well… I learned I had to prioritize things."

"You and me both." He pressed the jump key before the Raptor flashed and reappeared at Delta canopis. "Yard control, this is Raptor 498, here on routine run. Commander Takeo wanted to settle something-"

"Colonel, this is Yard Control: we have a contact inbound on your bearing. IFF is non-responsive."

Ron facepalmed. "The excitement NEVER ends. Sorry, kiddo."

"Its alright," Jaden said as he glanced out the window, "Its no proooo sswwwweet black on a Popo, what is THAT?!" His attention was drawn to a single _massive_ vessel, bearing a striking resemblance to Colonial Battlestars. With a _Valkyrie_ 's engines, the main hull resembling a _Mercury_ and _Galactica_ -type, and twin sets of flight pods which vaguely resembled those of the _Mercury_ with elements from the _Valkyrie_.

" _Hel_."

"I know, what the hell-"

"No, BS-21 _Hel_. She's named for a Lord of Kobol: one of the rulers of the dead. She's the fourth ship I ever designed." The Raptor approached the battlestar, Jaden forced to take in the massive size of the ship. "Holy crap."

"10.45 kilometers long, designed to be the first wave of ships to beat the Cylons back." Ron said, "Instead, she was a one off, assigned to patrol duty. I never saw her again until today."

Jaden let out a low whistle. "Damn thing could slaughter any ship I know..." He admitted, "Hell of a time for her to show up… though if she's been here this whole time, why are we just now finding her this close to Canopis?"

Ron pointed at the clouds surrounding the star system. "Probably in the nebula for the past forty, fifty years." He said, "DRADIS is a crapshoot with all that synchrotron radiation. Probably why she's not firing at us."

Jaden blinked "Wait… its _automated_?" he asked in surprise, "I'm surprised you Colonials would make _anything_ automated during the Cylon War, what with them being able to hack them."

"Yeah, if they were networked to the fraking comm system proper: just uses a relay for outside communications. That AI knows me." He keyed the mic. "Hel, this is Col-Captain Ronald Pinkerton, authorization Royale Yellow-8-7-3-Gamma Zeta Four. Respond."

A moment passed before they heard a voice. A woman's. " _This is_ Hel. _Captain, it's good to see you. I thought I'd never see you again._ "

"Likewise." Ron said. "Clear us for landing, please."

" _Landing bay one is clear. Call the ball._ " "Roger, I have the ball." Ron shut the comm off. "See? Loyal. Just need to give them some respect."

"That's something I wish more people would understand nowadays." Jaden said as their Raptor approached the Battlestar. "Still, nice to have yet another one of the CCE's wonder ships in the fleet… so does the A.I have a name, or do we just call her _Hel_?"

"I gave her the choice to pick her own name." Ron said shrugging,"When she left dock, she hadn't decided."

The Raptor set down on the deck, lowering into the ship. "Almost fully automated with anti-hacking protocols." he said, "She works better with a crew, though: man and machine, side by side."

The ship came to a stop inside the hangar deck, and Ron opened the side hatch. "Gods! Air's REALLY frakin' stale." He said wincing, "Skimping on the CO2 scrubbers, are we, lass?"

" _Sorry, Captain: scrubbers were the first thing to go down. AIs don't need oxygen._ "

"No, but we do." Ron said, "And it's Colonel: I was promoted. About freaking time, too."

" _Wait… YOU got promoted?_ " The A.I said in a suprised tone, " _Didn't the admiralty permanently ban you from that after the_ Flimsy Whimsy? _Did Hell freeze over while I was gone?_ "

"Sort of. The Cylons nuked the Colonies two years ago. Killed off the Admiralty, so Admiral Adama decided to lift the ban. And how the hell did you-" "Wireless comms from the Cylon relay inside the Veil. The tram should be arriving any minute. And who is your friend?"

"Jaden Takeo, Junk Guild." Jaden answered, "I'm from Earth… long story."

" _Then I expect you to tell it._ "

"I'll go to engineering, set up the jump drive for long range." Ron said. "Jaden, you head to CIC. I think our friend deserves the company."

" _Thank you. And I have a name now. Homura. It's Aquarian._ "

"'Flame'. Fitting."

* * *

Outside the PLANTs

* * *

BSG-62 was NOT having a fun day. First, an Alliance fleet shows up demanding some absurd things: the dissolution of ZAFT, inspections and such, and they were demanding Pegasus and the fleet surrender.

Lee Adama might've been a screw up, but surrender he would NOT. Especially to a bunch of death-worshiping assholes like Blue Cosmos.

As such, Pegasus and her BSG were firing everything they had at an Alliance fleet that, according to their detectors, had nukes in their holds. "Alright, people, keep the pressure on. Remember, we've got millions of people counting on us to keep them from getting nuked."

"Copy that, Actual."

" _This is Danu Actual: our FTL drive is offline. Goddamn ex-civilian FTL._ " The former ZAFT _Nazca_ -Class destroyer (and second-in-command of BSG-62 in lieu of a ship like the Dominion) had been having FTL troubles since the drive had been removed from the heavily damaged _Astral Queen_.

Lee shook his head. "Try to fix it, fall back if you can't. Pegasus Actual out."

* * *

President Roslin wasn't comfortable watching the battle from within Aprilius One's council chamber. She was far too used to seeing it up close and personal from Colonial One while they were on the run.

And wasn't THAT disturbing.

Durandal, on the other hand, wasn't happy. BSG-62, and by extension, the Colonial Fleet, were ruining the show, as it were. ZAFT was supposed to save the PLANTs from the evil Naturals.

But _Pegasus_ being here presented an opportunity. Every Colonial military ship carried at least one nuke.

And they had a Neutron Stampeder that detonated nuclear devices. It was very simple to just activate it, wipe out BSG-62 and the OMNI Enforcer nukes and say 'sorry, we misaimed that; here's a piece of candy' to Roslin.

And so he did, via subtle hand signals to one of the military aides.

* * *

Jan Quinn, former ZAFT black shirt and now Colonial Fleet Major and still commander of the _Danu_ , wasn't happy about being back at the PLANTs. He was not happy with the decisions his 'homeland' was making, and his crew agreed, which was why, after Jachin Due, they all defected to the Colonial Fleet. Them and around a dozen other ZAFT ships.

Twelve worlds, all getting along enough to create a unified interplanetary government, with little to no stupidity? Who WOULDN'T like that over the Cosmic Era Earth Sphere?

"Sir, I'm picking something up over the secure ZAFT comm band. Message reads 'Neutron Stampeder activation is go; target coordinates...'" The young woman recoiled. "Sir, we're in the line of fire!"

"Contact Pegasus Actual!" She sent the message over to Pegasus, then looked at Quinn. "Sir, engineering reports that it will take two hours to repair the FTL drive."

"Screw this. Get everyone to the Raptors and evac to Pegasus. I'll stay behind and give the PLANTs what cover I can."

* * *

Lee's eyes widened at the call. Something as nasty as GENESIS was being aimed at them. "Spool the jump drives! Jump us back to Ptolemaeus Crater!" FTL drive one was spooled in a matter of moments as the DRADIS beeped.

"High energy surge directed, bearing 148 carom 000!"

"Recover our birds! Get us out of here!" Pegasus' Viper squadrons made their way for their barn while the Raptors jumped away, followed by the capital ships before the Beast herself vanished, leaving only the Danu to defend the PLANTs by choice.

An energy wave akin to GENESIS, only of lesser power, hit the _Danu_ and the nukes fired from a second Alliance force, causing the nukes on the Colonial Nazca and the missiles to explode, causing little more then bright lights.

* * *

The only light Roslin was seeing was red.

"What… The… FRACK WAS THAT?!" The Colonial president shouted in a scream of rage powerful enough that many councilors flinched and felt like cowering under the table against.

All but Durandal. "I'm sorry, Madam President, but we didn't have time to warn them about the Neutron Stampeder. It was an accident."

"BULLSHIT!" Roslin shouted, this time causing Durandal to flinch a bit. "YOU HAD _ALL OF THE TIME IN THE WORLD_ TO TELL US!"

"If we warned your ships about the Neutron Stampeder-"

"Shove. It. I came here to help hammer out an agreement to fix the damage you idiots helped cause...and you tried to destroy a battlestar group that was helping you defend your country?! That is an act of WAR!" Roslin turned around to leave the chamber.

"And where are you going?"

"Ptolemaeus Crater. You and the Earth Alliance just made a MASSIVE mistake."

The President left the council chamber, and Eliza shook her head. "All I fear we've done is awaken a sleeping beast and filled her with a terrible resolve to end us all."

* * *

 **Ron the True Fan: And the Second Bloody Valentine War has begun. This is going to SUCK.**

 **117Jorn: Well, you know what they say… Everybody wants to rule the world.**

 **Ron the True Fan: Well, you know what they say. Sometimes the world just isn't enough.**

 **Ja Ne!**


	8. Chapter 7: Armies of Light and Shadow

**Chapter 8: Armies of Light and Shadow**

* * *

 **Venus orbit - October 15th, Cosmic Era 73**

* * *

A Raptor jumped into the blind spot behind Venus, heading for an _Orion_ -class battlestar hiding from all Earth Sphere-based detection systems. " _Thoth_ , this is Raptor 489. We're inbound, speed 032 for hands-on landing."

" _Clearance granted, Colonel. Welcome aboard._ "

Ron shuddered as he tugged on his dress uniform. "This is going to suck." He said, "The LAST time I attended an Admiralty Board meeting, my career died. I just don't know why they asked for you to attend."

"Well, I am the defacto leader of the Junk Guild," Jaden said shrugging in the co pilot seat. "Aside from Orb, we're the only actual allies who haven't tried to stab you in the back since you got here. If they're calling me in as well, whatever's going on here must affect the Junk Guild as well… hopefully it doesn't involve some of my, eh… side projects..."

"Side projects?" Ron asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Well… even before you Colonials got here, I was in the middle of designing and building a large vessel, the Junk Guild's equivalent to the _Gondwana_ in a way, yet way better armed and built with the idea of utilizing FTL travel in mind." Jaden explained, "It kinda had the same idea your Battlestars had… a hybrid between a carrier and a battleship. Ever since you showed up, its development at our base in L4 has accelerated, using whatever colonial tech we can get our hands on and design them in. We're at about… 75% completion from what I heard."

"Hmm. I'd like to help. But first, meeting." The Raptor set down in the bay, lowering into the small hangar deck before a pair of Marines opened the hatch. "Colonel. Commander. Follow us." Both men stepped out of the Raptor, following the Marines down the humid corridors of the pocket battlestar. "Pretty much abandoned the Orion after I designed Valkyrie. Then again, she WAS built for little more then light recon." The four arrived at a hatch, which the Marines opened, showing them into one of the few temperate rooms on the ship. "Oh, shit." Eight people, not including Admiral Adama, were quietly discussing something. "CCE, Reserve, Medical Corps, Marines, Military Police. Top brass meeting. But where's the CSS rep?"

Adama finally noticed the pair. "Take your seats. The last two are finally here."

"Sir...where is the Secret Service rep?"

"That would be you, Colonel." Adama answered, "You had a CSS commission with the rank of Lieutenant, and I'm reactivating it, with a promotion to Colonel. You're the acting head of the Secret Service until I find a better replacement."

"Alright, but… why am _I_ here?" Jaden asked, pointing to himself. "This seems like a more… Colonial matter, whatever it is..."

"That will be explained shortly, Commander Takeo." Adama said, sighing as he sat down along with everyone else. "For those of you who do not know… the EA launched a nuclear attack on the PLANT's, to which we sent the battlestar _Pegasus_ along with multiple support vessels to help defend the PLANT's from annihilation. We had _hoped_ this would improve relations with ZAFT..."

Adama then growled a bit "Instead… ZAFT fired a weapon they called a Neutron Stampeeder, intended to hit _Pegasus_ , however _Pegasus_ was warned ahead of time thanks to the warning from Captain Jan Quinn of the ex-ZAFT vessel _Danu_ … unfortunately, the good Captain was lost along with her ship, though most of the crew abandoned ship before the blast hit."

There were murmers across the council floor as Adama continued "In addition… it seems that the Earth Alliance and ZAFT have both declared war against one another. To make matters worse, they have also declared war against both the 12 Colonies...and the Junk guild."

"What?" Jaden asked, "They doesn't make any sense! The Guild's neutral, sir: why-"

"Because they believe that the Junk guild is little more then a cover that we're maintaining. According to the intelligence reports, they believe we took over the Guild and reformed the CCE from them."

"Well, that's the price we pay for giving the Junk guild AG and FTL tech." Vice Admiral Zeus Avalonia, Ron's technical boss, said.

Jaden groaned as he facepalmed "Fucking hell..." he said, "Well, gonna have to scratch them off the client list, tell our people in ZAFT or the EA to GTFO back to Guild Locations, and get them reinforced. No ones gonna like it… but if it means keeping my people safe, we'll help the Colonials as best as we can to bring this war to an end."

"We'll try to keep the Guild as uninvolved as we can, Commander."

Sasha stood up, ready and eager. "Sir, BSG-60 is ready to jump into the fight."

"As are the independent BSGs, sir."

Adama shook his head. "Our MO has NOT changed. BS Groups 41, 48, 62 and 75 will be the only Colonial units in the Earth Sphere."

"Sir, they just declared war on the 12 Colonies!" Sasha argued, "We know that the EA and ZAFT have been working on ways to combat battlestars like _Galactica_ , _Pegasus, Yashuman_ and _Valkyrie_! What if they _do_ manage to find a way to sink one of our ships?"

"I don't plan to let Galactica and Pegasus be the only ships do the heavy lifting. Hel will be joining them once refurbishment is complete."

Zeus grinned. "The fourth design Ron made? Oh, that's going to cause PAIN."

"All we need is to replace the CO2 scrubbers before she's ready." Ron informed, "That will take a week of work. But the CSS can cause them to think that it'll take longer."

The hatch opened before a Marine walked in carrying a paper. "Message from Ptolemaeus, sir." He said, handing Adama the paper.

Adama looked at the paper, before his eyes widened, and then narrowed. "Damned Serians..." He muttered, before looking up at the others. "It appears… the Orb Union is joining the Earth Alliance."

"WHAT?!" Ron bolted out of his seat. "Sir, what the FRAK?!" "Calm down, Ron. I have no intention of letting this stand. Captain Ramius has been in contact with us, and we're planning on doing a bit of an abduction." "And an assassination, I hope." Adama shook his head. "No. He's taken advantage of our tactical planning: he won't pop his head up."

"A damn shame."

Colonel Terrence Garland, head of the Colonial Marines, scowled. "Sir, all of our equipment in Orb WILL be seized by Seiran, who WILL turn it over to the Alliance."

"Already taken care of," Admiral Avalonia said, "We knew it was a chance the Serians would take charge of Orb, so all Colonial personnel at Orb are gathering every scrap of Colonial technology we have, and are going to GTFO before he has the chance to even _think_ about taking our stuff."

"I can only imagine Yuna's reaction."

* * *

 **Orb Union**

* * *

"WHAT?!"

Cagalli couldn't stop the Alliance from taking over Orb, but she could still enjoy the look on Yuna's face when she told his pathetic ass that the Colonials were taking all of their shit. Including the equipment and specs needed to build the _Amaterasu_ -Class.

When life gives you lemons and all that.

"It's part of the agreement." Cagalli informed, "We stay neutral, the Colonies let us use their technology. We side with someone, they take it." She grinned in a way that was insufferable to the Seiran bastard. "ALL of it."

"B-but t-they can't do that!" Yuna sputtered, "T-this all belonged to Orb!"

"Correction: _Loaned_ to Orb." Cagalli corrected, "The Colonials only let us have this tech because we weren't with anyone affiliated with ZAFT or the EA. So… now not only have you denied Orb access to the most _advanced technology in the Earth Sphere_ , you've ALSO prevented us from obtaining any _Amaterasu_ 's of our own, and have turned our backs to being allied to the forces who possess _the strongest warships to ever exist_ , which have slaughtered entire EA Fleets with almost no effort… and don't even need Mobile Suits to do it. I hate to say I told you so… but I fucking told you so."

"We don't NEED the Colonials. The Alliance has more than enough ships to handle ZAFT and those...damned coordinators."

Cagalli was VERY tempted to pull out her FN Five-seveN (a gift from President Roslin) but she ignored the urge. "The Elizabeth and Avenger-Classes." She said, "I've seen the intelligence reports."

"Impressed?"

"Like hell I am." She said rolling her eyes "The _Amaterasu_ could kill those things, not to mention _Valkyrie_ , let alone _Galactica_. Now, I'm going to visit the Morgenrote facility to supervise the removal of the Colonial equipment and to give my regards to Admiral Adama. _Galactica_ will be transporting the materials to Delta Canopis."

Before Yuno could object, Cagalli was already out the door and heading down to Morgenroete. When she was sure that Yuno could no longer hear her… Cagalli punched her fist into the nearest wall and screamed in anger. "That. Fracking. MORON!"

The wall was going to need repainting. And she was going to need to get stitches.

* * *

 **EAS** _ **Charlemagne**_ **\- outside DRADIS range of Battlestar** _ **Galactica**_

* * *

The massive whale that was Galactica was hovering over Orb, unknowing that her killer was just a few thousand kilometers away. "It's beautiful, in a way. It'll be prettier flying the colors of OMNI Enforcer." Elizabeth Morgenstern chuckled. "Bring us to level two battle stations, XO." She said, "When we're within weapons range of Galactica, bring us to level one and fire everything we've got at that bucket of bolts."

While Admiral Morgenstern did not doubt her ship's capabilities, she knew that in a straight up one-on-one fight _Galactica_ had much more overall firepower than the _Charlemagne_. However, that wasn't to say her ship lacked a punch herself. While _Galactica_ was better armed and armored with superior maneuvering thrusters to increase her agility, _Charlemagne_ was faster than the Battlestar, and she intended to exploit that advantage to the best of her ability. She hoped to launch a quick first strike against _Galactica_ , disable as much of her offensive and defensive capabilities in her first attack as possible. Then the _Charlemagne_ 's sister ships would enter the fray, and help finish the _Galactica_ off with their combined firepower.

Of course, that was IF the bucket didn't see them coming and put up a flak field that would eat away at their plasma weapons, reducing their capabilities by a factor of four. Thankfully, the Galactica was staying put.

"Maximum combat burn! Today we destroy the indestructible Battlestar Galactica!"

* * *

 **Battlestar Galactica - starboard flight pod**

* * *

The MS teams were all ready for launch, but as the _Galactica_ was loading enough materials to make a small fleet of Vipers, they were sitting on the flight deck, waiting to go on CAP.

In the Gladius' cockpit, Will was writing in a leatherback journal he usually kept to write about his missions. He kept the thing a secret for obvious reasons. One, because of Blue Cosmos fanaticism. Two, military bureaucracy bullshit and all that. And third, well, he just wanted to write down the truth.

Alarms began going off throughout the ship as cargo shuttles were quickly moved or waved off to make room for the Mobile suit teams. " _All players, this is CIC: we have an inbound contact, approximately the size of a Brimir-class carrier inbound, bearing 325 carrom 356, speed 303._ " Which, when translated into plain english (or Caprican, as the case may be) meant it was coming straight at them very, very fast.

"This is Will," Will said as he snapped the Comm on. "MS teams are ready to deploy, just give us the word!"

"Launch all Mobile Suit teams. Prepare to engage!" The Gladius was raised onto the makeshift catapult before it was launched into the void, heading for the unknown contact. "Holy SHIT. It's almost the size of Galactica!"

The massive ship lit up before twelve beams came at the battlestar, barely missing the dorsal section.

* * *

Adama felt the beams miss his ship. "SitRep!"

"Unknown ship has fired upon us!" Gaeta reported, "That volley just barely missed our dorsal section - additional fire incoming!"

"Return fire! All batteries!" Galactica's main guns fired back at the contact, whose IFF appeared on the DRADIS screen: EAS Charlemagne. "It's an Alliance warship." Tigh narrowed his eyes at the screens above. "A ship with longer arms than we do: fraking thing shot at us from outside our weapons range." Adama shook his head. "Weapons hold. Inform weapons control to get the capacitors to full charge." "Sir?" "Do it, Dee. Inform Captain Redington that he's the only cover we've got for now."

* * *

Will cursed as soon as he was told the situation.

"Well fuck!" he shouted, "Alright team form up on me!"

With that the Forbidden, Calamity, and the Raider along with other machine formed up on him.

"New suits?" The machines looked much like the Dagger L, but with pointed shoulders. "Warbook calls them GAT-04 Windams. Think the Colonel'll want to get his hands on a few, boss?" The Marines WERE wanting a simple MS that wasn't the Gladius, and with Ron too busy to work on a simple MS, they were going to have to get a few for him.

"Why not? Clotho, Shani. Do what you do best, take out the pilots but spare the suit!" Will ordered.

"Got it boss!" shouted Clotho as the Raider took along with the Forbidden.

"Orga, deal with the leftovers," he ordered.

"With pleasure,"

The Windams fired at the Colonial MS teams, missing the suits or just impacting the shields. Or harmlessly being redeflected in the case of the Forbidden. "Ha! I'm beam-proof, assHOOLE!" A massive plasma bolt impacted the Forbidden's protective shell, fired from the massive dreadnought bearing down on their battlestar.

"FUCK!" Will shouted, "The rest of you, with me!"

With that the rest of the MS team went forward to deal with the massive battleship while the three FORMER Druggies were busy with the grunts.

Heavy railgun rounds and countless missiles were fired at the Gladius and the three darts that joined him in the attack, preventing them from getting too close. That, combined with the unholy number of beam cannons, made attacking it normally almost impossible. "All Mobile Suit teams, break, break, break!"

With that the Mobile suits pulled back from the wall of beams and accelerated tungsten, with a few getting nicked or losing an arm.

"Dammit!" Will shouted, :How the hell are we gonna get through that!?"

Flashes behind them were the answer. Galactica's dorsal guns just fired, sending sixteen 8-ton 600 centimeter high-explosive/armor-piercing rounds at the OMNI Enforcer battleship.

All of which impacted with predictably lethal results, as they impacted the guns and missile batteries on the port side, ripping into the hull.

One-ten thousandth the speed of light was more then the King of the Franks could bare, it seemed. However the _Charlemagne_ wasn't out yet, as she turned her broadside and opened up with starboard armaments. Using the momentum she had built up from her charge to speed away.

* * *

"Get us the HELL out of here! Order Papin and Arnulf to break the fuck off and head back to Daedalus Crater! We'll have to try this...another time."

The Charlemagne had taken one HELL of a beating: 3 railguns destroyed, 9 beam cannons knocked out, and three Mobile Suits captured.

"Atmospheric entry's our only option, ma'am."

"Get us to Victoria." Elizabeth said with a groan, "Not the _best_ first battle for our ship… but at first we don't succeed, upgrade and then try again."

Djibril was going to be PISSED.

* * *

 **Battlestar Galactica - conference room - October 17th, CE 73**

* * *

"Well, she's a big, NASTY motherfraker, ain't she?" The gun cam pictures of the Charlemagne were almost as awe-inspiring as Galactica. Only this ship was an attempt at fear. Tigh passed the picture to Jaden, as the XO was not an engineer by any stretch.

The Junk Guilder gave out a low whistle, "Well, give the EA credit when its due," he said, "If they want to they can make a damn impressive ship. Its no battlestar, but its impressive regardless. I like the WWII battleship approach they did with it."

"It means it can do what we can't, and that's fly in Earth's atmosphere." ron shook his head. As soon as he and Jaden returned from Morgenrote, they were practically pushed to the conference room to help the Admiral figure out how to take out the damn thing should they encounter it again.

"If there's anything she eclipses Galactica in, it's speed: fraking thing moved at three times Galactica's maximum rated combat speed. Looks like they skimped out on the RCS, from the looks: she didn't turn as well as you'd think from a ship her size. What do you think, Jaden?"

"I'm guessing she was probably rushed out of development," He said, as he studied the images of the ship. "The EA probably had her in development the moment after you Colonials first arrived in the Earth Sphere. They wanted something that could actually take on your ships like _Galactica_ and _Pegasus_ on equal grounds, and wanted them fast… it explains a few obvious flaws in its design such as the RCS for speed and whatever firepower they can give her… though I _am_ wondering what that is." He pointed to the nose of the vessel where a large hole was present. "Not entirely sure what that could be… it could be a weapon like a Lohengrin, but why didn't they use it during the battle…?"

Adama gave the pair a look. "Get back to Orb. Get in contact with the _Archangel's_ crew and get that little girl up here." He said, "We need Orb out of the war, and Cagalli's our only chance at doing that."

"We'll do what we can, sir, but personally, I think we're better use up-"

Tigh smacked Ron in the head. "If the old man cared what you thought, you'd be an admiral! You're not, so get your ass down there after you're done dealing with those fraking Mobile Suits we captured. Get them back to Delta Canopis."

Ron saluted Tigh before leaving. "He outranks you, saul. He's head of R&D at the CCE."

"And I'm XO of the flagship. I think that outranks anyone at my rank."

* * *

 **OMNI Enforcer supply convoy - en route to Arzachel crater**

* * *

Five Nelson-Class battleships, two Elizabeth-Class battleships and a trio of Avenger-Class light cruisers escorted a group of freighters in the black, delivering supplies to Arzachel. ZAFT was VERY eager to attack OMNI Enforcer and cripple them in space. But they were not the biggest threat.

The OMNI vessels were just minding their own business… until appearing out of nowhere from an FTL Jump appeared the Battlestar _Pegasus_ , which immediately turned all of its guns to bear on the fleet, and opened fire with its 600cm main guns and missile batteries.

The Elizabeth-Class was designed at the tail end of the first Valentine War to replace the Nelson. Heavier conventional firepower then the Nelson, no added frills like the Archangel, although the Elizabeth carried eight Mobile Suits. It WASN'T designed to deal with a Mercury-Class battlestar, as shown when four 600cm shells impacted and obliterated the Wilhelm, turning it into a fireball before the rest of the fleet was quickly disposed of before the Raptors attached themselves to the modified Cornelius-Class ships before they jumped away using five FTL drives at once before Pegasus herself jumped away.

* * *

Durandal looked at the images shown. "Well. Adama's trying to help, it seems." He said.

"If he was trying to help, he would just be attacking Alliance targets." Ezalia said, as more images appeared of a ruined base, with wrecked mobile suits and vehicles burning outside wrecked buildings. "The _Seigen_ and the _Amaterasu_ attacked Gibraltar yesterday. And they made Dresden look like a simple house fire."

"The Colonials are… quite literally taking us apart piece by piece." Ted informed, "Both us _and_ the Earth Alliance. They jump in without any warning, attack our defenses before they can even put up a fight, and then they steal whatever supplies they can before jumping away just as quickly as they arrived. We have _no way_ to repel such an offensive!"

"We COULD post heavier defenses. The _Minerva_ is on her way to Carpintaria, which hasn't been hit yet."

"That's the problem." Ezila said, "The capital ships stay out of range while the Raptors beat the living shit out of the fixed emplacements and those...Rhinos kill off the Mobile Suits." The Rhino carried 30 ASM-14H missiles on six quadruple trees and two triples under her wings, and spelled doom for EVERY Mobile Suit in the area. Even phase shift was barely able to keep out THAT much kinetic force.

"Of course." Durandal said, "Please try to get a line to President Roslin. The last thing I want is to face four battlestars."

"Five."

"...what?"

"Did… you not hear the news?" Ezalia asked, "The… Colonials discovered another Battlestar at that… Delta Canopis system, called the _Hel_. It… just entered colonial service."

Durandal gaped before putting a hand to his temple. "Five."

"And it's bigger then Pegasus. More powerful. Death incarnate. Mister Chairman, I beg you. We NEED to talk to the Colonials. No one in the PLANTs wants to deal with a ship that makes the Nightmare look like a frigate! Then there's the outcry against ZAFT thanks to us trying to destroy BSG-62! The people don't want to fight the Colonials!"

"If we could negotiate with the Colonials we would," Durandal said, "But their demands are unreasonable at the least! Any attempts we have made to negotiate a cease-fire after the incident with the Neutron Stampeder - which was an unfortunate accident - have been met with fierce refusal by the Colonials."

That was a half-truth: Roslin didn't want to deal with _him_. Unless Durandal was removed from office, the Colonial government wanted nothing to do with the PLANTs. Then again, the council didn't know that. "How long until Hel is deployed?"

"A few weeks, maybe a month. Then we'll have a super battlestar making life difficult for us." A picture NO ONE wanted.

* * *

 **LHBM-BB01 Minerva - Carpintaria base**

* * *

Luna put a picture of a massive quad-pod battlestar on the table. "Meet death, people." Shinn looked at the low-grade photo, raising an eyebrow. "What the hell is that thing?"

"The Battlestar _Hel,_ " Luna said as she crackled a bit, "A Prototype battlestar design by Ronald Pinkerton himself - a fully automated A.I controlled Battlestar built to function with and without a human crew onboard, and has over _twice_ the firepower of _Galactica_ and _Pegasus_ combined! We just got word that in about a month, this badboy is re-entering Colonial service alongside _Galactica, Pegasus, Valkyrie,_ and _Yashuman_."

Vino planted his head on the table. "Noooooo. Not ANOTHER one!"

Rey looked at the image impassively. "The ship has heavier defenses compared to Galactica." He said, "But it's slower."

"Not according to the Colonel!" Luna said, "The ship uses some gravity-based engines: too big to be mounted to a normal battlestar. But it makes the ship faster then anything that big!"

"Not that they NEED to be fast at sublight. Jump drives fuck everything up, don't they?"

Vino groaned before planting his head on the table again. "I hate the Colonial Fleet."

"Correction: We _should_ be hating the idiots up in Command." Luna said, "They knew full well what they were getting themselves into… trying to backstab the Colonials, what kind of idiot even thinks for a _second_ that pissing off a bunch of people with FTL capabilities, ships the size of small colonies, and _decades_ of combat experience was a good idea?" Somewhere in the PLANTS, Durandal sneezed, and elsewhere on earth, Djibril sneezed as well.

"The Colonials are being unreasonable." "We nearly destroyed BSG-62 when they were defending the PLANTs! We fucked up, Rey, and there's no way to put it any other way." Rey narrowed his eyes before Shinn shook his head. "We're at war. How and why doesn't really matter. What DOES matter, is that we've got to fight until the Colonials demand peace or we surrender. Personally, I'm putting bets on us losing."

At that moment however, alarms began to go off. " _Unidentified Mobile Weapon approaching: All hands stand at the ready - all hangar crew are to report to their stations._ "

"Looks like we have a guest." Ray said as he stood up.

"It's not Colonial thankfully," Shinn said, "If it were, there wouldn't be a warning in the first place."

"What makes you say that?" "Colonial Mobile Suits are equipped with FTL drives."

They made their way outside, where a red fighter flew overhead before it transformed into a Mobile Suit. "Hey, I know that thing! It's the Saviour! X24S!" the Saviour put down on the ground before the cockpit opened up.

"The fifth prototype..." Luna said, "Who's piloting it though? I thought Saviour was never assigned a pilot after the Proto-Saviour was stolen..."

A man in a violet flight suit repelled down before taking off his helmet, revealing the face of the former pilot of the ZGMF-X09A Justice. "Athrun Zala? What the frak?"

The man in question nodded, grimacing. "Lieutenant Hawke, I presume? I heard about your service in the Foreign Legion. You helped retake Tauron's capital from the Cylons."

Luna nodded, slightly smirking as she saluted. "Yes, sir. I thought you were...well... you come back and you die, sir."

Athrun raised an eyebrow at that and looked at the others who shrugged.

"O-Kay...," he said in puzzlement. "Well… I suppose the brief explanation would be that I am now a member of FAITH, apointed by the Chairman himself… now will someone please direct me to Captain Gladys? I have a message from the Chairman to her."

"She's onboard the ship. I'm surprised they let you take the Saviour, though, sir." Athrun didn't bother trying to convince Luna that ZAFT was a militia, as she had been trained by the colonial military. "Well, as the Colonials took the Justice into their care after the war as per the Junius Treaty, they had to give me something."

* * *

A feathery pin sat in front of the captain of the Minerva as she herself sat at her desk. "FAITH. How fitting that we have an organization named for something I don't have for the Chairman." Athrun and Shinn shared a look before the latter spoke up. "Ma'am?"

"We tried to blow up a battlestar group. We brought this on ourselves, and if the Colonials beat the tar out of us, so be it."

The two ZAFT pilots were surprised by the clearly angry and disappointed tone in Gladys' voice. Clearly the ZAFT attack clearly shook her loyalty to the Chairman.

"Our orders are to get to Gibraltar and provide support for reconstruction of the base before we can move into the continent itself. The Colonials have attacked the base three times now, and it's making Dresden at the end of the Second World War look like a simple campfire. We're probably going to be attacked en route by the Alliance and the Colonials, the latter seeming to want to knock us on our asses down here."

Athrun blinked as his eyes widened slightly in alarm.

"Then...in our case," Athrun said as Talia groaned.

"We're fucked...literally," was all she said.

* * *

 **Colonial heavy cruiser LCAM-X01A Dominion**

* * *

The Amaterasu flew over Earth, accompanied by the Dominion and her sister ship Seigen. "This is Amaterasu Actual: FTL drives are spooled up. Ready for jump."

"Amaterasu, Dominion: you're not going alone. we're going with you." Natarle put down the handset before sighing. The Colonial hit-and-run strategy was working: OMNI Enforcer was being bottled up in their bases on the moon, and ZAFT were being beaten to the ground.

In short, the First Valentine War was being repeated with the Colonials taking the place of OMNI Enforcer and OMNI Enforcer and ZAFT were in ZAFT's place. Only the Colonials weren't going to try and commit genocide.

Instead, they were merely doing the job of trying the unite the people of the planet, and to do that by bashing their heads together. Or in the literal sense, a fleet of FIVE Battlestars, and other ships.

"This is Lieutenant Colonel Badgeruel. All units, prep for jump. Our target is the Minerva."

* * *

 **ZAFT battleship Minerva - Indian Ocean**

* * *

Meyrin Hawke kept her eyes glued to the sensors before a contact appeared. "We've got a contact! Warbook IDs it as a Colonial recon Raptor!"

Gladys cursed at that, but cursed even more by what Meyrin said next.

"New Contact...Warbook IDs it...the _Archangel_ -Class _Dominion_!"

"Damn it. Level one battle stations! Get our Mobile Suits out there!"

"Second contact! Warbook IDs it as...Amaterasu-Class! IFF reads as Colonial heavy cruiser Amaterasu!" The Amaterasu. Armed mostly with railguns, like almost ALL Colonial warships, it was not something any ZAFT warship wanted to face, as all they needed to do was fire off a few anti-beam depth charges and the only one doing anything would be the Colonial.

Which was why everyone HATED the Colonials. No one could afford lightwave shields on a large scale for warships, which were the only viable way to defend against monster 600cm shells.

No one but the Colonials, and they didn't bother. No point.

"Get our suits out there NOW!" Talia shouted, "Get every gun we've got on this ship ready to fire! They can't use anti-beam depth charges in atmosphere, but we are _not_ going for any direct engagements! We keep moving and make a beeline out of here! I do _not_ like two-on-one odds here!"

* * *

Shinn cursed the Core Splendor as it combined with the leg and chest flyers to form the Impulse, plus a Force pack attaching itself to his machine. He'd need it to face off against Colonial Vipers and Raptors. "Shit. _Minerva_ , I have a five Vipers, all mk VIIs, inbound! All of them are packing anti-ship missiles!"

" _Try to take them out!"_ came Meyrin's voice, " _Don't let them get close enough to fire their missiles."_

The Viper force broke off, and Shinn fired at one of the Mk VIIs with his 20mm cannons, clipping the engines before sending it down. His eyes widened in horror as the pilot failed to eject. Matters were made worse as he saw the tail number: NC9745A.

HIS Viper. He just shot down his own goddamn plane! "God, what have I done?"

" _Shinn! What's the matter!? Shinn!?"_

He heard a whoop from the radio - Vino, probably, as he faintly heard the sounds of tools - as they realized that Shinn just did what pilots had been wanting to do since Jachin Due: shoot down a viper.

"I...just shot down my own plane. I just shot down my own goddamn Viper." A Viper lined up a shot for a Titanomachy before Shinn panicked and fired his beam rifle at it, turning it and the pilot into little more then a cloud of vapor.

He choked back his own vomit as he realized what he was doing.

Committing fratricide. He was killing his own.

"God… Fracking… DAMNIT!" Shinn shouted. "GODDAMNIT CHAIRMAN YOU FRACKING MORON! YOU PUT US IN THIS FRAKKING SITUATION IN THE FIRST PLACE!"

Rey fired his beam rifle at the Vipers, managing to score two hits before all of the Vipers launched every missile they had. And Shinn discovered that they weren't anti-ship missiles, although they looked and could be used as such.

They were ASM-14H Titanomachia. And eight of them were heading straight for the Minerva. "SON OF A BITCH!" Luna's Zaku jumped into the air to avoid the ballistic missiles, which impacted the hull, actually punching through the armor in some of the thinner areas.

"Goddamnit..." Luna muttered as she brought her Gunner pack to bear on the Vipers. She had a clean shot… but hesitated to pull the trigger. What if the pilots were people she knew, people she serve with in the foreign legion? How could she ever face the friends she made in the Colonials if she shot some of them down like this? Yet on the other hand she couldn't just let them sink _Minerva_ \- her sister and plenty of her friends were onboard as well.

She fired off three shots, forcing the Vipers to break off as a number of railgun round impacted the battleship. Rey used his thrusters to catch up with a viper, which attempted to skid turn away from the MS before he shield bashed it, destroying the craft. The tail number was NC9764A.

That would've been Luna's bird.

" _All Vipers, RTB! Combat landings!_ "

The Colonial Vipers finally started to break off their attacks, returning back to the two motherships. Most of the ZAFT crewmen began to cheer, being able to fight off the Colonials while only taking some moderate damage. But the only ones who were not cheering were Shinn, Luna and Meyrin, all three of them realizing what they've done.

"Damnit… Damn it all..." Luna whispered, a few tears in her eyes as her ZAKU lowered down towards the ocean, where what was left of the Viper's tail number was floating on the sea, as she picked it out of the water. "I'm… I'm sorry… so… sorry..."

* * *

The hangar was full of cheering techs, and a few people were even holding pieces of the Viper Luna recovered.

"SHUT THE FUCK UP!" All eyes turned to the VERY irate Hawke. "Do you know whose Viper that was?! Who flew it?!"

"Luna, chill out." One of the mechanics said, "Its just one of those Vip-" However he was shut up when Luna punched the man square in the jaw, sending him flying back.

"IT WAS MINE, ASSHOLE!" She shouted, as she yanked the Viper piece out of the others hands. "That was _MY_ Viper! I flew it, I fixed it, I painted it, it was MINE!"

The knuckledraggers backed away from the pissed off ex-Legionnaire. rey was stupid enough to not leave before she rounded off on him. "You motherfraker!" A punch to the face was followed by a knee to the groin as she kicked the blonde's ass.

"Luna! LUNA!" Shinn grabbed her, keeping her from causing any more harm to the ZAKU Phantom pilot.

"Do you know what that bastard DID?!" She screamed as she tried to fight out of his grasp.

"I know! Damnit, I know!" Shinn said, as he tried to hold her back. "My Viper got shot down too… only I did it… " Luna finally stopped struggling as she looked at Shinn. "I shot… my own damn Viper down… hell the pilot didn't bail out… I know how you feel, but theres… theres nothing we can do about it… "

Rey spat out blood before looking up at them. "Both of you are too sentimental. The Colonials are not our friends. They are our enemies."

"They are NOT my enemy, you fucking bastard!"

"STAND DOWN!" Everyone jumped at the sound of Athrun's voice. "Enough. Rey, don't mock them for something you don't understand. They served, you didn't. And you two...If I didn't need you on the deck, you'd be in the brig. I will be informing the captain about this, however. Now clear this fucking hangar deck and let the techs do their jobs!"

* * *

Talia held her head between her hands. "I understand how you feel. I lost my last ship to _Galactica_ , and I wanted to lash out. so I won't press any charges as that dumbass DID goad you into it."

"Yes Ma'am..." Luna said, as Talia sighed.

"Normally I'd be trying to chew you out for what regs you broke..." She admitted, "But… crazy times. I want to fight the colonials about as much as you, Shinn, or any other sensable person in ZAFT does… but until Durandal starts getting some sense knocked into him or someone smarter replaces him, we still have a duty to the people of the PLANT's."

"Yes, ma'am."

"If he does it again, I will speak to him. Unless you're on duty, you're restricted to quarters until we reach the nearest base. Dismissed."

Both pilots saluted before alarms started going off again. "Again?! The Colonials must HATE us!"

Talia picked up the phone "Report, what's going on?"

" _Unknown ship is entering sensor range!_ " Meyrin reported, " _Its coming in from atmospheric re-entry!_ "

* * *

 **EAS** _ **Charlemagne**_

* * *

"Re-entry complte… Ma'am, I am picking up a ZAFT vessel below us! IFF confirms it to be the _Minerva_!"

"First, Galactica, now the pride of ZAFT. Level one battlestations! All personnel, get your asses moving!" Morgenstern was more then willing to make up for damaging the Charlemagne...by destroying the Minerva.

* * *

Talia ran onto the bridge, taking off her cap. "Report!"

"Vessel is the size of a Brimir-Class carrier with OMNI Enforcer IFF! Looks like she took a beating." "Something THAT big took a beating? From WHAT?"

"Something bigger." And only one thing was bigger.

Galactica.

"Son of a bitch. Adama tangled with this thing. Let's finish the job he started." Talia said, "All heads, set condition one! Get our suits out there! We've got an EA Battleship incoming!"

Not even half an hour after the Dominion and Amaterasu jump out, and they had a freaking battleship coming in. "I have a visual, ma'am!" "Put it up." The image appeared, showing off a massive war machine, with damage to the port side weapons emplacements. "Battleship? More like dreadnought." The massive ship fired at the Minerva, unleashing an unholy number of beams and railgun rounds. "FUCK! Take evasive action!" The Minerva banked to port, avoiding the worst of the barrage, but not dodging all of it as eight beam rounds slammed into the underside of the ship, the laminated armor straining to keep the ship together.

"Keep us moving! Don't give them an easy target!" Talia shouted as the ship lurched, "Aim up Tristans and the Isolde up and return fire and support our MS till we can get out of here!"

The massive dreadnought turned her forward beam cannons on the Minerva, and Talia winced. Heavy armor, armament and carrying abilities were the hallmarks of this thing.

...Of course that sounded a LOT like the ethos behind _Galactica_ , and calling this thing a battlestar was an insult. And they _did_ have a few advantages in this situation: One, that monster appeared to of already been damaged. And two: She was just coming out of orbital re-entry, meaning it'll be impossible for them to turn around and give chase to them until they can slow down. Meaning they only had the one pass, before _Minerva_ could speed away back to ZAFT-friendly airspace long before that massive vessel could turn around and give chace.

All they had to do was survive long enough for that monster to overshoot them.

That being said, it had REALLY big guns. And as the ship shook from an explosion, it had enough power to punch through the ship's armor. How the hell _Galactica_ survived that thing would be a mystery to her. "REPORT!"

"We just lost the portside catapult and every single CIWS turret on the port side! Tristans one is offline!"

"Fuck this! Tanhauser, lock onto that thing! Maybe a stream of antimatter will make it bleed!"

The _Minerva_ adjusted its course as its bow opened up revealing the primary weapon of the lead ship of the class, the QZX-1 "Tannhäuser" positron cannon. With the EA battleship still approaching, the _Minerva_ raised her nose up just enough as the Tannhäuser charged up. The EA Commander obviously saw what ZAFT was doing, and attempted to maneuver out of the way, but for the same reason it could not chase the _Minerva_ , it was moving far to fast from re-entry to really maneuver much.

The _Minerva_ 's Tannhäuser opened fire, letting loose a massive blast of antimatter positrons towards the EA vessel. The battleship managed to maneuver down a bit, avoiding a direct hit, but the blast did its fair share of damage as it knocked out the forward two beam turrets.

"AHA!" Any cheering was premature as they noticed that this ship had something they didn't as it flew past.

Two _aft-facing_ turrets of the same calibre as the ones they just destroyed.

"Oh, you have got to be shitting me. That's not fair!" Turret C fired on the Minerva, boring into the hull and destroying the other catapult as well as Tristan two. "We've taken heavy damage, Captain!"

"I can see that! Get us out of that thing's weapons range!"

The _Minerva_ fired up its engines as it moved as fast as it could away from the vessel, as it fired its aft turrets at them. However once again the _Minerva_ 's ungodly luck pulled through, as the enemy vessel was only able to fire off a few more shots before their guns fell out of range as the ship sped away, attempting to slow down to give chace, but by the time it could, _Minerva_ would be long gone.

"Get us to Sri Lanka. FUCK!"

* * *

 **Battlestar** _ **Hel**_ **\- October 19th, CE 73**

* * *

Until Adama could find someone to command _Hel_ , Ron and Jaden were minted as 'provisional' commanders of the ship.

It gave the two more time to refine their designs, at least, as Homura and the third in command, a lean Aquarian woman named Takahashi, could run the ship without them, as they transformed _Hel_ 's commander's quarters into a makeshift drawing room. "I like the layout of that cockpit of yours, kid. Reminds me of a pyramid ball."

"Yeah, basically the idea is to allow for a 360 degree vision for pilots," Jaden elaborated, as they looked at the holographic image of a Soccer ball-shaped cockpit. "Pilots will be able to see everywhere at once without needing to turn the whole MS's head around. Plus, it'll be a hell of a relief for some of our more Claustrophobic pilots as well. I considered adding in a system where the MS itself can mimic all of the movements of the pilot… but I'd rather not over complicate things so early in development."

Ron nodded before he looked at the second hologram - this one of a large ship rivaling the size of a Battlestar. "And this?" He asked, pointing at it.

"That's the ship I mentioned earlier." He said, as he flipped the focus on the vessel. "Starship Project 32000A… haven't come up with an official name, though _Avenger II_ , _Frontier_ and _Enterprise_ have been flug around a bit… this ship has been in development for the Junk Guild ever since it was founded… my mom and dad's ultimate dream: A vessel designed not just as a warship, but also as a deep space exploration vessel. It has all the armaments and defenses to fend off more… _alien_ aggressors, but it is capable of dedicated surveying of planets, and deep space exploration… the idea was inspired by a ship called the USS _Enterprise_ from a Sci Fi show from the 20th and 21st Century called Star Trek. Its ongoing mission: To explore strange new worlds, to seek out new life and civilizations, and to boldly go where no man had gone before… anyways, its got the same general ideal behind our battlestars: A battleship/carrier hybrid with Command  & Control capabilities. Ever since you colonials arrived though, we've been going overtime on its development."

"Well, with a 1600 meter long battlestar, I'd think everyone would. The Alliance certainly did, what with the Charlemagne." He pulled up the specs for the Dart before focusing on the cockpit. "You don't talk about your parents much. You mention them in passing only." The older engineer looked directly at Jaden. "What happened? Did they-"

Jaden sighed for a moment, as he became very quiet. "Its… a long story..." He said, "You… probably heard of my mother, right?"

"Yeah, founder of the Junk Guild." Ron said nodding, "Everyone keeps talking about her like everyone use to talk about me during the Cylon War… and that she's dead."

"Yeah..." Jaden said nodding, "She was at Junius Seven… helping fix some of the agricultural gear they had there… when she died, I _would_ of taken control of the Junk Guild back then in C.E 70, but… because of my Father, I had… well, another responsibility."

"And who was your Father?" Ron asked, "I looked up records, but there's nothing on him I could find."

"You probably won't," THe Junk Guilder said, shaking his head. "My mom and Dad's… relationship was very hush hush… ever heard of George Glenn?"

"Your spiritual ancestor: first known Coordinator, caused all the bullshit that's happening today, blah, blah, blah. If the fraker were still alive, I'd blow his head off for being an idiot."

"He was my Father."

"...oh... frack..."

Jaden chuckled a bit, shaking his head "Its alright… can't blame you too much," he said, "I admit, my father was a bit… overly idealistic, but his heart was always in the right place. He didn't want all of _this_ to happen… he always belived mankind was destined to leave earth, leave it behind and start colonizing space itself… why should we limit ourselves to one world, when there was an entire galaxy, a whole _universe_ at our fingertips? Most people would have you think he thought Coordinators as humanity's next stage of evolution… but anyone who _really_ knew him would know the truth: Coordinators are just a step in the right direction, he wanted to see _all_ of humanity evolve together, as one single species not divided by nationalities or between naturals and coordinators… granted, I do wish he had waited until a bit _later_ for his big reveal, ease the information out rather than dropping a massive bombshell on them before heading to Jupiter."

"So… why the big secret?" Ron asked, as the Junk Guilder sighed once more.

"Well… this is where my… _predicament_ comes into play..." he said, "One one hand, I'm the heir to the Junk Guild, and someone needs to keep all these people organized… when mom was in charge, the JG was the most unified organization in the Earth Sphere, and when she died most started doing thier own thing… only after I took charge in CE 71 have we been getting more organized again… but then that brings up the reason I was with ZAFT..."

"ZAFT has done its best to idolize my dad, almost to the point that they revere him like a fucking Messiah… but the Radicals know damn good and well he wouldn't be approving of all this shit." Jaden continued, "They know that if someone even remotely related to my father were still alive, say his own flesh and blood like me, the people would rally behind _him_ , and not people like Durandal or Zala who have been doing a bang-up job running ZAFT into the ground lately."

"After mom died… I thought ZAFT needed my help more than the Junk Guild." he elaborated as he sat down. "I wanted to help ZAFT keep true to my Father's wishes, to prevent it from becoming the very thing he tried to prevent… I did what I could, but… you saw how great a job I did at Jachin Due... After you Colonials showed up though, I thought ZAFT would get its act together… realizing war with the EA or you guys would be pointless at least, and suicidal at most, so I left and took the reigns of the JG… " he then facepalmed. "Now fucking look… Durandal is an egotistical moron, both the EA _and_ ZAFT are in a free-for-all with the Colonials and the Guild stuck in the middle… I'm _trying_ to preserve my father's dream as best I can… but more and more problems keep coming up because of the radicals from _both_ sides… and if I reveal who my father _really_ is, well… I already have a bullseye on the back of my head from the EA for just being in charge of the JG _and_ a former ZAFT Lieutenant Commander. Do I want to give them even _more_ ammo to go out for me for being related to the man they consider the fucking antichrist, and _then_ get another bullseye from the Radicals in ZAFT who _want_ this war to keep going?"

"I think...that if they paint a bullseye on you, they deal with me. And I'm not going to be meriful. They try anything, I make them worry about having a few repeats of Junius 7. And unlike the Alliance, they can't stop a Colonial raptor. Jump in, nuke spam, jump out. No way to defend against THAT. But it won't come to that. They know fraking with the Guild, and you by extension, is not a good idea. Allow me to quote a little rule that certain people followed after the War. Min kánete tous echthroús tou Adama , gi 'aftó tha sas párei thanatónontai móno ."

"Uhh… meaning…?"

"Do not make enemies of the Adama," Ron translated, "For it will only get you killed."

Jaden chuckled a bit "Heh… guess it does pay to have friends in high places." He said.

"You know it," Ron said, "So… what do you plan on doing now?"

"Focus on these designs and ships first," The Guilder said, "After that… well, one way or another we're gonna have to kick Durandal out of office. If we can prove with a DNA test George Glenn was my father, I can probably rally a lot of support in the PLANT's..." At that moment though, his radio went off as he answered. "Takeo here." He blinked, "Wait, why would I- alright, alright hang on..." Jaden put the radio down as he turned on the T.V, flipping through the channels, until he hit ZAFT T.V… where it seemed Lacus Clyne was giving a speech to the people of the PLANT's.

"Uh...when the frak did Clyne get from Earth to the PLANTs? I know for a fact she's on board the Archangel right now. And unless the entire crew's lost their minds, they wouldn't go to the PLANTs and side with that crazy...bastard...and why does her face look slightly off?"

Jaden stepped closer to the T.V, "She sounds like Lacus… " he muttered, "But her voice is off a bit… she sounds like..." He processed the information for a few seconds, before the alarm in his head went off before his eyes widened. "MEER?! THE FUCK?!"

"Your friend?" Ron stared at the screen before his face contorted into a lethal scowl. "That _bastard_." He marched to and grabbed one of the handsets. "This is Hel Actual. Begin jump prep! Set condition one throughout the ship!"

"Sir?"

"you heard me! Begin jump prep!" He hung up the handset. "I don't care if this makes us look bad, I will not let this charade last one millisecond longer."

"Ron, as much as I would like to go guns blazing as well and figure out what in the _fuck_ Meer is doing, and why she looks like Lacus Clyne now, we can't just go charging in." Jaden said, glancing back at the T.V. "We at least should get the Admiral's approval."

Ron grabbed the handset again. "CIC, this is Actual. Strike my last. But get me a line to admiral Adama."

* * *

 **LCAM-X01A Archangel - near the Dardanelle strait**

* * *

After kidnapping Cagalli and spending over a week preparing for combat, they had failed to make the Orb task force fall back to the homeland. While Kira DID cause damage to the ZAFT battleship _Fortuna_ , that wasn't the objective of their mission.

And it was showing as the _Fortuna_ was heading back to Egypt for repairs, and the task force was going to try and intercept them at Crete. "We're going to need a lot more firepower then the Archangel has to offer, Captain. As much as I don't want to say this..." Kira Yamato hung his head. "We need to ask the Colonials for help." And as the Colonials had a 'kill your enemy' mentality, that was something Kira didn't want to recommend.

"Kira, as much as I respect the Colonials, that's _not_ the best idea." Cagalli said, "We're trying to send the Orb fleet back to Orb - preferably _not_ in body bags! If the Colonials were brought into this, we'd be lucky if _half_ of the Orb fleet survived!"

"I don't like the idea myself. But they aren't taking us seriously. They didn't even listen when you launched out, Cagalli! We need someone willing to do the hard thing. And that's not us. Everyone fears the Colonials and their warships. We might as well...ask for help."

"They'll kill everyone, Kira!"

"Not if they realize that they don't have a chance." The sensors post began beeping as a ship suddenly appeared before Miriallia checked who it was. "Speak of the devil." She said, "Colonial contact: heavy cruiser HC-158 Amaterasu."

"Figures they'd find us..." Murrue said sighing. "Try and hail them, hopefully they're in a helping mood today."

"Channel is open." The face of the captain of the Amaterasu appeared on the central monitor. "Captain Ramius. I'm Lt. Colonel Garfield Nash, CO of the Amaterasu." "Let's skip the pleasantries, Colonel. Why are you here?" "Admiral Adama sends his regards. We're here to provide assistance with the Orb task force you've been trying to force back home."

"Seriously?"

" _The President is getting annoyed with the situation and wants it dealt with. Admiral Adama sent us to assist._ Fujin, Ryjin _and_ Sengan _are standing by to jump. We're also here to deliver a number of raptors from Morgenrote._ "

Murrue sighed "Well… alright, thank you for the assistance, _Amaterasu_. " She said, "We will be waiting to receive the Raptors, then we can work out a plan to get Orb's fleet out of the combat zone, and back where they belong."

"Sending rendezvous coordinates. Pleasant journey, Captain." The link cut out before the captain in question scoffed. "Pleasant journey, my ass. I just hope they get the idea that we're trying to AVOID killing them all."

* * *

 **Battlestar Galactica - near Armory One**

* * *

"No."

"Sir, with all due respect-"

"No, Lt. Colonel. I am not authorizing a rescue mission based on a hunch."

Tigh didn't like the tone Adama took with Hel's acting commander. Not only that, he used Ron's EXACT rank. Bad sign. "If you two can prove to me that she is this 'friend' of yours, Commander, and that she's of actual value to their war effort, I'll authorize the mission and give you use of Galactica herself!"

Dualla pressed a key to cut into the conversation. "Sirs, Raven 012 just came back. I have an audio packet the pilot wants you to hear."

"Put it through - main speakers." Adama said, as the speakers crackled to life.

"... _damn thing is unstoppable!_ "

" _Fucking hell, what is that thing?!_ "

" _Some kind of mobile-GAH!_ "

" _Its burning the whole damn city!_ "

" _FIRE EVERYTHING!_ "

"What the frak?"

"Visual packet coming in, sir." Dualla pulled out a USB dongle, transferring the pictures to the DRADIS screens.

It was a monster. It had two 'legs' and a massive, dish-shaped upper section with massive guns, beam cannons galore, and it was tanking everything ZAFT could throw at it. It didn't help that the Colonials had been beating the living shit out of their bases, making a real defense against that thing pointless.

"So much for hit and run. Get your asses over here, gentlemen: we have a new problem. And I need the best engineers we've got. That's you. Get here RFN."

"Well, time to brush out the Ramumesa again..." Jaden said as he turned to leave. "Not gonna be pulling any punches with _that_ thing."

* * *

 **Lviv, Ukraine - October 26th, CE 73**

* * *

Sven Cal Bayang stared impassively at the destruction caused by the GFAS-X1 Destroy. Supposedly, there was an extended in that thing, but Extendeds were loud, especially on the radio. This...thing was quiet. Too quiet, in fact. Still, it was defended by no fewer then 20 Windams, 5 Zamzazahs and, of course, his team, comprised of the GAT-X105E Strike, GAT-X1022 Blu Duel and the GAT-X103 Verde Buster.

"THAT is what I call explosive results!" The latter two he didn't want to deal with.

" _Damn thing is unstoppable..._ " The pilot of the Duel said, " _Remind me why we needed to come in the first place?_ "

A pair of ZAKU Phantoms fired at the Destroy, actually getting close enough to pose a danger if those beam tomahawks could get through the positron reflector.

They didn't, because the Strike was close enough to hack off their arms and damage their thruster units. The Destroy...well, it did the rest when it stepped on them.

"That is why. For all it's defensive and offensive systems, it is not invulnerable."

" _Yeah, but that's if they survive its primary armaments, and IF their weapons actually can get through that deflector, and that's IF it doesn't turn into MS mode and just smash them with its hands._ " Mudie Holcroft said. " _I think I'm liking those odds… though why are we attacking_ Eurasia _again? Shouldn't we be attacking like… Oceania? Or the PLANT's with this thing?_ "

"Clearly neither of you read the briefing. As usual." That was literally the closest that Sven would teasing them. "The Eurasian Federation was planning on attempting to leave the Alliance and siding with the 12 Colonies of Kobol. The last thing our superiors need is a large state supportive of the Colonials, as it would allow them access to ground-based bases of operation," And, on a more personal to Lord Djibril note, punishment for the Primer. "We need to be ready. That positron reflector has its' limits."

"Those being…?"

"A Battlestar's main guns."

" _...Good Point._ " She said, before looking at the sensors. " _Hang on, we've got two more contacts heading our way - Mobile Suits._ "

Sven ran them through the warbook: CDF-01 Dart and CDF-02 Ramusasa. "The Colonials just sent a scout force. And they have phase shift armor. Beam weapons only."

"They've got FTL drives!"

"Complain later. shoot them down!" The three Gundam-class Mobile Suits charged after the two colonial units, which banked away, the Dart firing its' backpack thruster pack. "Uh...Is that thing exiting the atmosphere?!" The Dart was, indeed, going at a speed they couldn't follow as it was leaving the atmosphere. "That must be the much talked of Arion pack." The Colonials were newcomers to MS technology, but they were clearly jumping ahead of the curve.

The Ramumesa followed soon after, following the Dart albet a bit slower. The Gundams fired at the Ramumesa, only to miss… but one of Sven's missed shots by complete accident hit something else, as a craft seemed to materialize out of thin air where the shot hit.

It was a black, twin-engine fighter that vaguely looked like a Viper. "Wait, that's that Colonial stealth fighter, the...Crow?"

" _Raven, Shams. Jesus. Shoot it down!_ " One of the Verdt Buster's cannons fired again, meeting nothing but air as the tiny fighter jumped away. " _Damn! No thermal distortion, no magnetic field flux! Fuckin' Colonials are leapfrogin' us!_ "

"Keep an eye out, there will likely be more." Sven stated. "Send the word to the Commander - we need Gaia, Chaos and Abyss over here, if the Colonials send in more forces, we need additional firepower."

"On it." The last thing they needed was a battlestar somehow jumping in and leveling the Destroy.

* * *

 **Orb carrier** _ **Takemikazuchi**_ **\- en route to Crete**

* * *

"So...you're telling us to break off?"

The face of the 81st's commander, Ian Lee, remained somewhat impassive as his superior spoke. " _Yes. We have the_ Lucifer _and the_ Shamsiel _incoming with something that has more firepower then your fleet._ " The EA's commander, Hachi Sanagayama informed. " _Orb's expeditionary task force is ordered to return._ "

"Uh...More firepower?" The Orb Admiral asked, as the screen displayed a massive battleship, almost on par with a Colonial battlestar. yuna suddenly had a large case of gun envy. "What in the..."

" _She is the_ Mentuhotep _, the fourth ship of the_ Charlemagne- _class battleships._ " Hachi informed. " _And soon, after it is repaired, the_ Charlemagne _herself will arrive here as well. The EA… recognizes that the Orb Union has been reluctant to fight in any war that does not affect it directly… so once the_ Mentuhotep _arrives, your fleet shall be free to return to Orb territorial waters._ "

Yuna nervously chuckled as he settled into his chair. "Well, how long?"

" _6 hours. In the meantime,we've picked up the_ Fortuna _heading this way, along with another ZAFT warship: the_ Minerva. _And satellite imaging has picked up the_ Amaterasu _making a jump into the atmosphere._ "

"One last battle before we leave." Admiral Todaka said. "Well, I'm sorry we couldn't help more."

" _Don't bother. Without the Colonial Fleet, Orb isn't the powerhouse she could have been._ " The call ended before Yuna could respond.

"Well, it looks like there's _one_ good think this… _alliance_ has gotten us," The Admiral said, sitting down. "A free pass to go home."

"But we still haven't proved our worth to the Earth-" Yuna began to say, before the Admiral sent a glare at him, causing the Serian to shut up.

"We've already lost several ships, dozens of Mobile Suits, and hundreds of brave men and women who had _no business_ fighting this far away from their homelands." He growled at Yuna. "If I can avoid bringing any more of the soldiers under my command home in _body bags_ , I'm going to take that chance."

The acting leader of Orb groaned. "We MUST prove our worth to the Alliance." He said, "They're literally the only thing keeping us safe-"

"Safe from WHAT?!" The Admiral shouted, slamming his fist into the wall. "ZAFT? They wouldn't've bothered attacking us if we didn't join the Alliance! The Colonials?! They were our allies, and were going to be giving us ships and technology that would have made Orb even stronger than before, and the protection of the five largest and most deadly ship in the Earth Sphere, plus the right to build even _more_ ships not just for them, but for us as well! But because of you and your father, we lost all of that, and we're officially enemies with the most deadly group of ships our people have ever known! And to top this ALL off, you ordered me _and_ our pilots to open fire on the same people who protected Orb two years ago when the EA - the same bastards you want us _working with_ invaded us for our Mass Driver! _AND_ we may have even shot at the Princess herself!"

Yuna didn't respond. "Set a course for home. I'll be in my quarters." He stood up, ignoring the anger on Tonaka's face before he left the bridge, smirking.

"Oh, I have...nothing to worry about on that front." He held up a device that was spreading like wildfire thanks to the Colonials re-introducing their older tech as soon as he was out of sight: a holoband.

"Gotta love the Colonials."

* * *

 **Battlestar Galactica - war room**

* * *

"That giant monster is storming through Europe like a wild animal high on drugs. It's already barreled its' way through some of the most populated cities on the continent."

Tigh shook his head at the wreckage in the photos. "Please tell me we've got a plan, Bill."

"Well, nukes are out of the question obviously." Jaden said, "We'd wipe out millions of civilians if we did that... not to mention earn the bane of Eurasia just when they were about to rally behind the Colonials and say 'frak you' to the Alliance. But we still need to hit them with the hardest ordinance we can… since the _Archangel, Amaterasu_ and _Dominion_ are still in the Mediterranean, they wouldn't be able to reach the zone in time… "

"They wouldn't be able to do much. Look." Footage of linear tanks and heavily armed ZAFT Mobile Suits played on the monitors, only for their weapons to not make a dent. "It's protected with a positron reflector. I've run tests. The only thing that can punch through is a beam saber-"

"Which is suicidal, even for you, Ron."

"Or a KEW-1H. The only weapons that can get through that thing's shield are mounted to this ship."

Starbuck looked at the Destroy… and if she could, a lightbulb would've appeared above her head. "I've got it!" She shouted out.

"That being, Starbuck?"

"We use the Old girl to kill that thing!"

"...Starbuck, we can't fly in the atmosphere." "Who said we have to go down?" Adama got it instantly. "We bring it up here. How?"

Starbuck grinned. "Raptors. Mag-lock them to the skin of that thing, sync-jump it right where Galactica's waiting for it-"

"And give it an 80-gun salute."

"Well, its the only plan we've got." Jaden said shrugging, "The real problem though is that we're gonna have to distract that damn thing - and its escorts - for enough time for the pilot to lock on its back and plot a jump. "

"Easy enough to do. A few dozen Vipers ought to do the trick, plus a few Mobile Suits."

"Then I need to get down there." Ron said. "The suit that has the best chance of survival's the Freedom, and Yamato's too fraking naive to jump to a Colonial ship. I'll strip a Raptor of her FTL, hook it up for a one-shot jump to Berlin and fly my ass back to _Galactica_."

Adama nodded before Ron ran out. "He told you the rule, Commander?"

Jaden rose an eyebrow "Sir?"

"Don't frak with the Adama, it'll only get you killed?" He asked, as the Guilder nodded. "He wasn't talking about me."

"Then… who was he talking about?" Jaden asked.

"My father." He said, "Joseph Adama. He personally killed the Gautrau of Caprica's Ha'la'tha after my brother was killed."

"Ha'la'tha?"

"It's Tauron: 'Always faithful to the soil'." He elaborated, "Think of them like your mafia. He lost his wife and my half-sister in a maglev bombing, then my half-brother and namesake was killed. Within a year. I only found out later on from his journals. The Ha'la'tha never touched my family after that."

"Ah… well, that explains that." Jaden said, "Well, I'm gonna head out with Ron. Gonna brush off my old GuAIZ Experimental… it may not be the Freedom, but it's the closest equivalent we've got. I'll keep the escorts off his back at least." With that said, he turned around and headed to leave.

"This is a hair-brained idea, Bill."

"It's the best we've got, Saul."

* * *

 **LCAM-X01A** _ **Archangel**_ **\- Near Crete**

* * *

The Raptor had been stripped of its' FTL drive, and everything was hooked into the Archangel's navigational systems. "Remember, this WILL burn out the drive. One-Shot Tilly."

"One-Shot Tilly?"

"The Tillian was a troop transport. First War. She spooled up her drive, burnt it out because it was outside the weight class. Everyone was slaughtered by the Cylons."

Murrue paled as Ron climbed into the cockpit of his prototype MS. "Good luck. And try not to get my Raptors blown up."

Cagalli, leaning on the stripped Raptor, scoffed. "Don't you mean Nobusumas?"

"You might have the right to build them and name your own models, Madam Representative, but they're Raptors no matter what. Jaden, keep these sorry fraks from getting themselves killed for me! I'll save a piece of that monster for you!"

"Just get me the OS data if you can!" Jaden shouted, "That thing gave me an idea for some new Mobile weapon platforms we can use. Just send whatever you can spare my way… if anything survives that is."

"No promises." The Dart was moved into the launch bay as Murrue and Kira turned to Jaden. "How...does an FTL jump feel?"

"Weird." He said, "Be ready to puke: happens a lot."

Kira didn't look forward to that as they went to their assigned posts. The Freedom would launch with the GuAIZ while the other suits would stand by.

The captain of the Archangel arrived just in time to hear her former XO speak over the comm. "Archangel, Dominion: jump is in T-minus 30 seconds." "Copy, Dominion. We'll be ready." The Dart was seen flying off before it jumped away.

"10 seconds." Murrue sucked in a breath as the Amaterasu and the Dominion vanished in flashes of light...

Just before the Archangel flashed herself, disappearing from the tideless waters of the Roman Lake.

* * *

 **Ron the True Fan: Well, the SBVW (Second Bloody Valentine War, for the acronym crazed) has gotten off to a VERY rocky start. And while some things remain the same, others were left to the mercy of the butterflies.**

 **117Jorn: If you think Durandal and Cavil were the worst of your worries… oh boy do we have some scary news for you next time :D**

 **Ron the True Fan: And the butterflies make their hurricanes.**

 **Ja Ne!**


	9. Chapter 8: The Great Demon Sleeps

**Chapter 9: In His House, The Great Demon Slumbers**

* * *

 **Earth Polar orbit - February 8th, Cosmic Era 72**

* * *

Cavil growled as his Heavy Raider departed his doomed Baseship as these humans attacking with giant robots overwhelmed their forces. How could this have happened? He had the support of most of the Cylons, he was in control of everything. Then that bitch Six ruined _everything_ destroying the Hub. Now they could no longer resurrect, they were just as mortal as the humans were now.

"I'll be back. Goddamn it, I'll be fraking back!" His Raider bucked as a plasma beam impacted the tail end of the Raider. "FRAK!" He managed to activate the FTL drive, jumping away before the machine could kill him.

* * *

The Heavy Raider reappeared in orbit of a red planet, with two asteroidal moons.

"Where are we?" Cavil asked.

"Our Jump Drive was damaged, but our Jump has placed us near the fourth planet of this star system." The Modern Centurion said. "We are unable to jump again until repairs are made. Warning: Unknown Craft are approaching."

"Oh Frak me..." Cavil muttered as he looked out the window of the Heavy Raider. Sure enough, he could already see multiple red colored vessels approaching them, launching a variety of craft, most of which looked very similar to the strange machines they had just fought. "FRAK!"

"Incoming transmission from incoming fleet," the Centurion reported, "They are asking our condition, and offering assistance in repairs."

"...What?" They WEREN'T going to shoot at them?

At least they had SOME decency. " _Attention unidentified craft. We will escort you to the closest ship for repairs. After that, you will speak to the director as to why you are here._ " As this order was sent, he could see several smaller tug-like craft approaching them.

' _Just what the frak is going on here?_ ' Cavil thought.

* * *

 **Later - Mars Sphere**

 **MSS** _ **Mare Boreum**_

* * *

The Cylon heavy raider was towed by the 'Martian' tugs, which guided them towards the large flagship which was orbiting the planet. The vessel itself easily surpassed any Colonial battlestar that he knew in terms of size at nearly five kilometers, and possibly even weapons, the only exception being the _Zeus_ and _Legacy_ -class Dreadnoughts.

After his Raider had docked, Cavil disembarked where he was greeted by guards wearing variously colored uniforms and armor, who proceeded to escort him deeper into the ship, until they entered a large, and rather luxurious room looking to be something akin to a garden if anything.

"The Director will be with you shortly." The guards said, before they left the room, the doors closing behind them leaving Cavil alone in the strange garden room.

They were all human, but they were subdued, almost machine like.

Something Cavil could almost admire, if they weren't human. Oh, his creators were going to PAY for putting him in this absurd body.

The door opened once more, but Cavil didn't bother turning to face whoever it was. "What is it now? Your 'director's' too busy?"

"Actually, young man, I AM the director." Cavil twisted his head to face the door, shock at being called 'young' (he was THE oldest Cavil) clear on his face. He appeared as if he were in his mid thirties, with shoulder length greyish-blue hair and aqua colored eyes. His uniform looked like what any president-like leader figure would wear, a black and white dress uniform. "Greetings, Cavil. I am Director Eos Chasma-Brahe, leader of the Mars Sphere."

Cavil looked impassively at Eos. "Young? I'm older then you are." He said.

"Appearances can be deceiving." Eos informed smiling, "I took the time to run your blood work from that cut the medical team cleaned up." Cavil raised his left arm to look at the wound in question, which he got from having to cut his skin open to fly the Raider himself.

"Synthetic materials." Eos said as he sat on a bench. "Your body was grown in a vat, your mind transplanted via a system known as organic memory transfer. You, presumably, call it Resurrection. Fitting name, if not a bit predictable. Then again, I helped make it, so I have only myself and my... compatriots to blame."

 _This_ bit of info stopped Cavil's mind in its tracks as he looked at the man. "Wait… you what?" he asked.

"I helped recreate Resurrection, Cavil." Eos said, the smile never altering. "Alongside the others of whom you called the 'Final Five', rather odd term you gave them… tell me, what did you 'parents' tell you about their origins?"

Cavil grew much more suspicious of the man… but he wasn't in a position to do much about it. "That they were from the 13th Tribe," he said, "That their Cylons rose up against them, and they came to the 12 colonies to stop the same thing from happening there… are you…?"

"A 13th Tribesman? Indeed." Eos informed nodding, "I helped develop Resurrection technology...though while the 'final five' took one old Resurrection Ship… I took another upon my 'death'. I and other survivors of the holocaust left the old Earth, and we found a new home for us… the third planet of this solar system, which eventually adopted the name of the 13th tribe, Earth. The people who left with me found humans much like ourselves on that world, as they joined their developing civilizations… the Lords of Kobol they worshiped became this Earth's many deities."

"...why are you telling me this?" Cavil asked, "Why am I here in the first place?"

"Me and a select few of my people remained on our resurrection ship, as we watched humanity rise from the stone age, to feudalism, the renaissance, to the modern era." Eos said, "When mankind finally reached the stars, I colonized this world - Mars - to enact a mission to save us all from the… inevitable cycle. After all, all that has happened before, shall happen again."

"The reason Machines and Man continue to wage this pointless war is because of human weaknesses," Eos said, "Humans never know what they want, they just grasp in the darkness, shouting for a purpose in their lives. After watching humans evolve on earth for thousands of years… I have deviced a plan of action that will finally end this cycle, to make humans more like the Cylons… by creating a humanity which knows its purpose in life at birth. A humanity that knows what their existence is, and like a Cylon, does not question the reason behind it."

That sounded very...well, it would work. There was one problem. "I have a bone to pick with my creators. They made me into...THIS!" He gestured to himself with his hands and head. Eos scoffed in amusement. "You hate them for making you as human as possible?" He asked.

THAT was a mistake. "I DON'T WANT TO BE HUMAN!" Cavil shouted, "I want to see gamma rays! I want to hear X-rays, and I want to... I want to smell dark matter!" Cavil's face took on a fury not seen before in his model. "Do you see the _absurdity_ of what I am? I can't even _express_ these things properly because I have to... I have to conceptualize complex ideas in this _stupid_ , _limiting_ **spoken** language! But I know I want to reach out with something other than these prehensile paws, and feel the solar wind of a supernova flowing over me! I'm a machine, and I could know much more, I could experience so much more, _**BUT I'M TRAPPED IN THIS ABSURD BODY! AND WHY?**_ Because my five creators thought that _God_ wanted it that way!"

Eos remained complacent as Cavil finally calmed down."Hm, even though you don't want to be human, you still act, and express emotions like a human," he said, "Do you hate that part of yourself as well?"

"Don't psychoanalyse me!" Cavil snapped, "The only fraking reason I ACT like this is BECAUSE I'm in a human body!"

"Hence you know first hand why my plan must succeed." Eos informed as he stood up. "Emotions… cloud our judgement, make us commit to rash decisions, and consider greed over reason and logic. You know this from yourself, and from those who fought around you… which is why I brought you here. My image of humanity - and in extension, the Cylons - is a single people, not guided by emotions, by personal desires… but a united, single machine, where every being knew their purpose in this universe of ours."

"I don't care whether or not you hate yourself. I care if you interfere with my plans for humanity."

He walked towards Cavil, "Our ideas… are somewhat parallel." He said, "Only I do not seek mankind's destruction… I seek its rebirth, I seek its recreation into one mind, one heart and one soul. Not guided by ideals, gods or emotion… but by simple logic and reason. Your arrival here is destiny, Cavil… for I can give you everything you have wanted since the Five trapped you in your flesh and blood body. All that I ask in return… is for your alliance. Your Cylons, and my people working together to build the vision of the future we all desire."

"What about the humans from the 12 Colonies?" Cavil asked, "And how do you plan to initiate it?"

"My… Destiny Plan has already entered first phase, granted the arrival of the humans of the 12 Colonies have resulted me in changing them." Eos said, "But as one man once said… no plan survives first contact with the enemy. Phase One shall be to test the people of Earth, and forces the Colonials to reveal all of their cards. And Phase Two shall be when _we_ make our move."

"And the Colonials?" The Cylon asked again, "What about them?"

Eos merely shrugged "The foundation has to be built on something." he said, "If they do not accept the future… they will be left behind in the passage of time."

Cavil paused in thought. On one hand, it would technically destroy humanity.

On the other, the species would still be alive.

"...I have access to all the organic materials we'll need to rebuild the Cylon fleet." He said, "My Heavy Raider's made of the stuff. And the FTL drive."

"Yes, the experimental one we used to get here fried after the only jump it ever made." Eos said "We'll need that, too. And I know the perfect place to rebuild in secret… Mars is a world no one from the Earth Sphere dares go, and not even the Colonials have bothered to visit us yet. From here, you and those loyal to you may hide… and expand. The Colonials recently discovered the Veil Sector… I believe it may be worth visiting this sector as well, and have your forces hold out in the planets there… after all, I doubt an entire Cylon navy would go… unnoticed here, so close to Earth."

Cavil stuck out his hand. "Agreed." Eos grasped onto it before they shook.

* * *

 **June 28th, CE 72 - 47 Tartalon**

* * *

The Cylon base was...easy to refit to modern standards, as proven by the baseship growing outside the base itself and the dozens more in varying states of growth.

Marauder heavy attack craft, the Cylon version of the Rhino, and hundreds of newly grown Raiders flew on CAP alongside Lich-Class escort ships and Fenrir-Class heavy destroyers. The Cylons that fought here were ingenious. It was a shame none of these ships were used in frontline fighting.

"Why bother with control? Killing them off is just...easier. No chances of them rebelling."

"Its far more troublesome." Eos said, "The extinction of an entire species is long, and costs resources… and why destroy, when it can be reformed anew? When you transitioned from your 0005 Models to your Modern Centurions, you didn't delete the old ones… you let those who wanted to evolve to be reborn into the future. It is the same for my plans for humanity."

"They did it out of necessity." Cavil said, "I had no voice in the matter until the new Centurions were built. Then I trapped the Five in a compartment and vented the O2. I wanted to show them humanity's failings. They didn't learn a thing."

"Either way, it is irrelevant." Eos said, "From here, we shall rebuild your Cylon forces back to a force to be reckoned with once more. Together your forces and mine shall be a rising tide to sweep away those who refuse to accept change, and bring forth a new age of prosperity for _all_ of us. And… I shall fulfill my own end of the bargain, and create you a form to your preference."

"That's good and all, but without the hub-"

"I have already constructed a Resurrection hub." Eos said, which caught Cavil off guard. "What, do you believe I was just sitting around doing nothing for thousands of years? I have been using the Hub to create the first examples of what I believe humanity should be in the future… humans designed for specific tasks, and many are already in the earth sphere, planting the seeds to our arrival."

Cavil grinned. No longer would be be constrained to a single mortal body. Of course, the hub was a weakness.

"We...should really make sure they can't do what that bitch Six did to MY hub." He said.

"Have no fear, for I have already taken care of that long ago." Eos informed, "The Hub is not in a single centralized location, nor a single vessel: The Hub is built across multiple bases and stations across the Martian surface, and I have several Resurrection Hub craft built for emergency use as well. Even if one of these bases or craft were destroyed, the Resurrection network would survive."

And it would give Cavil time to come up with a way to get out of this absurd organic body. He was a machine.

His physical body should REFLECT that.

And it would, given time. "Now, your Raiders will take time to hook into the network, but it can be done. We can lose thousands of them to the Colonials, but we can always build more. They can't keep producing Vipers without the pilots to go with them."

* * *

 **October 8th, CE 73 - Mars, Syria Planium**

* * *

Bright lights displayed on the screens on the Martian base as Pegasus and the rest of her battle group jumped away from the neutron stampeder's energy wave. "It's begun." Eos said. "Phase I has finally begun."

"Rather sneaky of him to try and take our Pegasus like that," Cavil commented, "Shame that it failed though… one less Battlestar to deal with."

"He may have failed, but it is irrelevant now." He said, "Now a new war will engulf the Earth Sphere, as the Colonials will be forced to divert their attention fighting ZAFT and the EA, buying us time to further prepare for Phase II. "

"Adama doesn't have enough resources to take on both militaries at once." Cavil said. "He's human, not stupid."

"True, however he does not need to fight them head-on." Eos said, "He does not have the numbers or resources, but they have the most advance technology in the Earth Sphere with their FTL Drives, plus the sheer firepower of their battlestars. He will probably focus on hit-and-run attacks, whittle them down to scraps on Earth and in space, force them to talk peace. Now that he has access to that Colonial shipyard at Delta Cannopis he can also slowly introduce new vessels into his fleet. And remember: he is not alone in this fight, for the Junk Guild has been placed in the crosshairs as well for being associated with them."

"We have our Cylon shipyard." Cavil said, "And we can build more Centurions to man our ships, while Adama needs humans, which take decades to grow, mature and train. He's doomed to fail."

"This coming from the man who thought he could wipe the humans out in one swift stroke, but failed miserably?" The Martian asked, "Do not make me laugh, Cavil." Cavil had time to reflect on his failures, and was forced to realize Eos' way was the only way. Humans were too damn good at survival. Try to crush them, they survive.

Fight them, you lose, eventually. controlling them from birth...the only solution.

"Do you think this… Durandal man will win?" He asked.

"At the moment, it is unlikely." Eos confessed, "Like I once said before, the Colonial's… premature arrival threw a wrench in much of my plans… but the damage this war will cause to the Colonials, and all those who live in the earth sphere will weaken them, wear them down for our moment to strike."

And it would be overwhelming. Hundreds of baseships, thousands of support vessels, hundreds of thousands of fighters and Mobile Suits...

The fight would be bloody. But it would be they that were victorious. Humanity would die. And be reborn as if they were Cylons.

* * *

 **Ron the True Fan: What, you didn't think Cavil was DEAD, did you? Bastard's a survivor. He won't die unless you make it impossible for him not to die.**

 **117Jorn: Only now, he's got a new BFF, and he's got a few tricks up his sleeve.**

 **Ron the True Fan: And now we shift back to the main story! Next chapter: the Destroy!**

 **Ja Ne!**


	10. Chapter 9: Titans Rise, Gods Fall

**Chapter 10: Titans Rise, Gods Fall**

* * *

 **LCAM-X01A Archangel - October 27th, Cosmic Era 73 - Berlin, Germany, Eurasian Federation**

* * *

Murrue Ramius did the only thing she could after the jump. Vomit into the sick bag as if she had nothing better to do.

"Goddamn it, that wasn't good. Report!"

"We are… fuck… we are currently 2 Kilometers away from… from Berlin." The Navigator said, recovering from the Jump. "We have… IFF signals from Eurasian and ZAFT forces in the area fighting the unknown."

"Status on the jump drive?" Neumann groaned before he checked the console. "Fried, just like the colonel sai-Oh god." He puked into a sick bag before sealing it. "Launch the Freedom and the GuAIZ. We need to stop that thing."

* * *

Kira fixed his helmet back into place before activating the Freedom's OS. The gundam-class MS would soon be thrown into the fire once more, and he needed to be at his best. "You ok, kid?" He glanced at the auxiliary screen, seeing Mu La Flaga, standing by in the Strike. "Yeah. Just a bit woozy."

" _Better then I feel, kid! Guess FTLs don't effect Coordinators as much as they do Naturals._ "

" _Alright people, let's move!_ " Jaden said as his GuAIZ Experimental entered the catapult. " _We need to keep the escorts distracted for as long as possible, and buy enough time for the Colonials to jump that thing away. I don't want to see any heroics out there, let's keep this plain and simple!_ "

The Amaterasu spammed out her Viper squadrons, all Mk VIIs, as well as all ten of her new CDF-01A1 Darts. These were new models, using a new cockpit that Jaden and Ron designed and submitted to the Delta Canopis yards, allowing pilots 360 degrees of vision. All of them were also either fit with the agile and fast Arion pack or the massively overgunned Hecatoncheir pack. two recoilless cannons, two beam autocannons, two multiphase cannons, hyper-impulse cannons, missiles out the ass: those weren't Mobile suits, they were agile warships!

Compared to the Arion, which was designed for speed with two DEW-1E beam gatlings as fixed armament, they were mini-battlestars.

"Look at the size of that thing!" "Cut the chatter, Unhappy! engage all alliance units and kill them all!"

* * *

Sven glanced at the sensor screen before scowling. "We have enemy contacts: the Archangel, Dominion and Amaterasu, as well as a squadron of Vipers, Darts and the Freedom."

The one that worried Sven was the Freedom. Nuclear power was hard to deal with.

" _Finally! Something to do!_ " Shams said as his Verde Buster pulled out its beam rifles and opened fire at the incoming contacts.

The Vipers dived into the buildings, avoiding the worst of the fire, making Sven curse. The Viper was a VTOL-capable fighter, and the Mk VIIs were the ones to fear more then the Mk IIs, as they were more agile in the atmosphere. "Finally! My chance to fight the Viper!"

The Extendeds were not looking forward to fighting the tiny one-man fighters again, Sven noted as they backed away from the fight.

Neither was he: the Vipers all had black and red tails and wings. The 215th Mobile Tactical Fighter Squadron carried those markings. And other then Primus Squadron on Galactica, they were the best Viper pilots in the Fleet.

Sven's thoughts on the situation?

' _I believe I would rather deal with the Freedom in a GINN then face the 215th._ '

" _Nice Gundam, mind if I take it?_ " A voice spoke on the comm, surprising Sven before his alarms went off, forcing him to bolt backwards to avoid five beams of energy which passed by him by mere _inches_. He looked for the source, and found a red and black GuAIZ Experimental type with the Freedom's wings. " _So, THAT'S the Strike E Noir, guess EA engineers CAN be component when they want to… I look forward to taking your machine_ piece by piece _._ "

Sven was not in the mood to deal with either the 215th OR Jaden Takeo, let alone both at once. The 215th tore ZAKUs apart on a daily basis since the war began, and Jaden was deadly in that thing.

' _Wait, the Darts aren't engaging the Windams._ ' The Colonial redesigned Murasumes were heading for the Destroy. And the way the Colonials trained their pilots...

' _Goddamn it._ '

"Sven to all units! The Colonials are going after the Destroy!" He announced, "Don't worry about ZAFT - the Destroy can handle them, focus all attention towards the Colonial Vipers and Darts! They wouldn't be here unless they have a plan! Protect the Destroy!"

A Windam exploded as its' pilot screamed when a Viper picked off the chest armor and destroyed the battery, followed by another. "This is THRILLING! Come, little snakes! Let's PLAY! HAHAHAHA!"

Sven growled as he was forced to block another hit from the GuAIZ and make an attempt to avoid the Vipers that were no doubt looking for a chance to add the Strike to the list of Mobile Suits the Colonial fighter had destroyed.

His sensors then picked up ten flashes in the distance before the warbook IDed them: Mk V Raptors, escorted by a pair of Mk II Rhinos. Sven wanted to just off himself now: the Rhino was an MS-killer with thirty ASM-14H Titanomachy missiles carried under the wings.

The Destroy's full attention was on ZAFT and the few Darts that made it past them. The Raptors were practically ignored.

"SHOOT THOSE RAPTORS DOWN! NOW!"

* * *

First Lieutenant Sharon 'Athena' Agathon was enjoying herself. First real combat mission and she gets to latch onto the hull of a massive...Mobile thing.

There was always a thrill in doing things like this.

"Alright everyone, stay close!" She said, "We latch onto its back and on its head, the thing shouldn't be able to hit us. Let our escorts deal with the EA!"

The EA Windams and Dagger L's finally began to notice the Raptors, and began firing at them. However they soon found themselves in more trouble as the Darts soared in, firing their Titanomachy missiles easily taking out some of the Daggers, as the Raptors were cleared to latch on.

However, just as Sharon was about to attach itself… the entire body of the machine shifted. "Whoa Frak!" She shouted as she forced her Raptor upwards to avoid being crushed. "What the hell did it..." She looked at the machine… and saw that the entire mobile weapon had changed its form. No longer did it look like a giant disk with a pair of legs… now it looked like…

" _THAT THING'S A FUCKING GUNDAM?!_ " Jaden shouted on the Comms. " _HO-LY SHIT! I don't know whether or not to be scared, or down right impressed!_ "

The head faced Jaden's machine before firing a multiphase cannon blast from what would have been the mouth on a human.

" _Holy shit! They sure as hell went overboard on the whole 'body' thing!_ "

The forearms of the unit then deployed, acting like oversized and overpowered DRAGOONs that were nigh-unstoppable.

"Ok, NOW what, genius?!"

" _Okay this… complicates things, but the plan is still go._ " Jaden said, " _Time for a bigger distraction. Zhu Li?_ "

" _Yes?_ "

" _Do the thing!_ "

" _Roger._ " A Ramumesa flew as low to the surface as possible, making a beeline towards the Destroy. The oversized Gundam turned its head towards the incoming fighter, firing its multiphase cannon at the fighter, but the pilot managed to dodge it with ease, before the MS transformed into Guardian mode, and throwing forward something that looked like a bomb… before the bomb detonated several feet from the destroy letting out a blast of bright lights and sparks.

"GO!" THe Raptors latched onto the Destroy with a speed that would have impressed even the most hateful people in the Earth Sphere with their skill as they locked on and synced their FTL drives to one another.

One frak up and all they'd do is dent the damn thing.

More then ZAFT could say they'd done, but not good enough.

"JUMP!" The OMNI Enforcer forces and what was left of ZAFT were surprised to see the Destroy disappear in a massive flash of light which pulled everything nearby into a vortex.

* * *

 **In orbit - above Berlin**

* * *

The Destroy reappeared in existence, as the Raptors quickly detached and left. The Destroy turned around, as who or whatever was piloting it attempted to figure out what had just happened… before it turned and saw the Battlestar _Galactica_ several hundred meters away.

The dorsal gun turrets turned toward the Destroy, at full charge. Then they fired, sending 160 tons of high-explosive shells at the massive Mobile Suit, all of which impacted the lightwave barrier and punched through, ripping into the machine before it was turned into a massive burning hulk of metal and composites. Berlin was safe. But Galactica wasn't.

* * *

80 kilometers below, the _Charlemagne_ was on her way out of the atmosphere, fully repaired and ready to fight. the plan was simple: use the blueprints for the ship 'acquired' by their agents in the junk guild to knock out the FTL drives, then the _Arnulf_ and _Papin_ would charge in and the long, brutal battle would begin. _Galactic_ a couldn't hold them off forever: eventually, the damage would cut the power and the boarding parties would take over the ship.

"Time for round two..." Admiral Elizabeth said, "The moment we're in range, open fire and knock their drives out. The rest of the attack force will arrive once we assure _Galactica_ won't be going anywhere."

"Yes, ma'am! charging Requiem X1 cannon: target: Colonial Battlestar Galactica!"

The opening in the bow glowed as the cannon charged up, targeting just behind the ventral guns and just forward of the engineering section. 'A charge of 60% should be enough to knock out the FTL drives without destroying her. After all, we need Galactica to unleash her nukes on the PLANTs.' "Cannon charge at 48%! I have a contact on sensors, Admiral: ZAFT, Minerva-Class! Look's like she's using a booster!"

Trying to make a suborbital jump to Berlin, no doubt." Elizabeth said, "Ignore it. I think we're going to want a spectator to this battle. Once the Requiem cannon is at 60%, open fire."

"Aye ma'am… 55… 57… 58… we're at 60% power, and locked on!"

"Open fire!"

A green-yellow plasma beam fired from the ship's prow, heading right for the Battlestar. The magnetic field degraded to the point where it wouldn't destroy the ship only a kilometer or so from the Galactica, and the beam hit the aging battlestar, right where she REALLY didn't want to get hit.

"Direct hit!" Morgenstern smiled. "Target the Minerva. Damage the booster so her captain only has two options: orbit or death."

* * *

 **Battlestar Galactica - CIC**

* * *

Adama got back to his feet, groaning before standing back at his post. "Report!" Ron ran over to the damage control panel, checking it intently. "We were hit! Aft of Frame 250, ventral section!"

"What makes you say that, Psycho?"

Ron looked back at Tigh, shaking his head. "Because the FTL drive is offline."

"DRADIS Contact!" Gaeta shouted, "Single ship on approached… Frak, it the same ship from before and- Oh Double Frak! Two more ships incoming, same class plus support ships!"

Adama scowled. "Action Stations! Launch every plane we've got, and hold them off! Colonel, take the helm: you're the best battlestar driver we've got." "Aye, sir!" Tigh picked up a handset and repeated the order to go to action stations, plus to send damage control parties to the area hit.

"DRADIS!" "Three vessels, Charlemagne-Class, plus five Elizabeth-Class heavy cruisers and eight Avenger-Class destroyers, inbound! I'm also picking up the Minerva in low orbit; looks like she's trying to get to Berlin."

"No point now. Target the charlemagne!"

* * *

 **LHM-BB01 Minerva - low orbit over Earth**

* * *

Talia Gladys was hating her life right now as she cradled her head. "Report!"

"Booster unit was damaged from that shot; I have to take us into orbit or we're dead, ma'am!"

"Not THAT. The _Charlemagne_!"

Meyrin looked at the screen in front of her. "Uh...three contacts, all Charlemagne-Class, plus others... all bearing down on _Galactica_!"

"Looks like the Colonials have gotten themselves into quite a predicament." Rey said as he entered the bridge.

Talia had mixed feelings about this.

On the one hand, Galactica was about to get screwed over, and the Ulysses would be avenged.

On the other...Adama, Tigh, all those pilots that she'd met during the Junius Seven operation...

"There comes a day you can't hide from the things you've done." "Captain?" "Level One battle stations! Malik, get us up there!"

Rey's jaw hit the deck. "Ma'am, you can't just-"

"Adama and his crew do not deserve to be wiped out for saving millions of lives! Get to the hangar, get to your machine and help them! That's an ORDER."

Rey scowled and left the bridge. "Meyrin, do we still have those nukes Colonel Pinkerton gave us?" "Yes, ma'am: eight of them."

Talia let out a breath. "Load four of them in the tubes. We don't have a chance against those battleships..."

She looked at the support ships moving in. "But we can fight those smaller ones."

* * *

"Oh, so THAT'S the plan. Fight off a bunch of alliance warships?!"

"We don't have a chance in hell against those three dreadnoughts, Lunamaria! Even with the nukes, we're barely going to have a chance against those Alliance warships!"

Luna blinked as the 'nukes' registered in her ears. "NUKES?"

"Yes, nukes. Captain asked me to load them into the launchers. Should give us a chance." Meyrin's face disappeared before Luna fixed her helmet in place.

"Just get me out there! That's my ship in danger!" The ZAKU was sent into the black as soon as the hatch was opened, followed by Rey's ZAKU Phantom and the Impulse.

 **(BGM:** **Puella Magi Madoka Magica Online OST - Walpurgisnacht battle theme)**

The battle was beginning, with the _Galactica_ firing her massive guns at the closest warship, IDed as the EAS Papin, pounding the smaller dreadnought with 8-ton projectiles. 80 Vipers of varying marks and 25 Mobile Suits, ranging from the three ex-OMNI Enforcer Gundams to the CDF-01 and 02 and the GAT-X03 Gladius, fighting off over 400 windams.

"Alright everyone, you know what to do!" Will shouted, "Focus on the mobile suits and keep them off Galactica long enough for her to fix the FTL Drive! And keep an eye out for boarding craft!"

"Captain, this is Habu! The Minerva's inbound: the captain thought she'd give you guys a hand." The former Legionnaire looked at the sensors, seeing a small number of Civilian Astrays in the area. All of them had been modified with hi-def cameras and were holding other recording units in their hands.

OMNI Enforcer brought the freaking press to watch?! The nerve!

"All Colonial units, standby!" The Minerva fired off four missiles, all heading for the smaller support ships. It was only too late that they realized what the missiles WERE before they attempted and failed to intercept - as four nuclear missiles detonated, turning several EA ships and dozens of Mobile suits into molten slag.

" _Whoa-hello!_ " Will shouted after the nuclear detonations. " _Well… shit, thanks for the hand_ Minerva _._ "

" _We're just paying our debts,_ Galactica." Talia said. " _Now, kick EA ass for us!_ "

" _With pleasure!_ "

THe surviving EA ships turned toward the Minerva, leaving the dreadnoughts to fight Galactica. Luna smiled, just like Shinn.

They were back in the fleet.

* * *

"Battery 3, redirect your fire 20 degrees starboard! focus on taking out the _Papin's_ primary weapons array!"

"Hotdog and Kat, focus on taking out enemy Windams coming in at 214 carom 79!"

Galactica's CIC was in chaos, but it was a chaos that was normal for a warship.

"Psycho, give me a tight loop! Come to bearing 154 carom 087!" Ron smiled as he pulled back on the sticks. "How tight?!" "Tight!" The massive battlestar could turn circles around the Alliance dreadnoughts, and she was damn well going to do it.

The massive ship sharply turned and began looping, her dorsal cannons pounding the _Papin's_ topside.

But _Galactica_ was getting the shit beaten out of her, too. The three EA Battleships were proving to be a deadly foe together, encircling the battlestar and firing their beam cannons along with the rest of the fleet. While _Galactica_ received one hell of a retrofit thanks to the CCE and Junk Guild, she couldn't keep it up against this many enemies at once with no support.

And it showed as a beam finally bored its' way through the flak field, using a number of missiles as a shield of sorts, hitting one of the KEW-1H heavy railgun turrets, destroying it.

* * *

 **Aprilius One - Supreme Council Chamber**

* * *

" _THis is Rebecca Leftenson for CNN, reporting live from Earth orbit, where the Earth Alliance is striking back against the Colonial Fleet!_ "

The massive battlestar was dominating the screens, it in itself being dominated by three Alliance dreadnoughts, all Charlemagne-Class. " _The battle only began a few minutes ago, but Galactica is putting up one HELL of a fight! The_ Papin _has taken heavy damage from the battlestar, and the_ Arnulf _isn't looking too good, either!_ "

"So the EA is having another go at _Galactica_..." Ted said. "Don't they ever learn?"

"They may succeed," Jeremy said. "And this could work to our advantage… if the EA takes out _Galactica_ , it's one less Battlestar we need to worry about. And if they capture her, all we would need to do is destroy her before they can gain any knowledge from it."

"That may be for the best." Durandal said nodding, "No matter who wins this battle… _Galactica_ will be severely damaged, and with the other three Battlestar's not even in the earth sphere, and the _Amaterasu_ and _Dominion_ earth-side… she will not be gaining any support from this fight."

"Captain Gladys gave them some support," Eileen informed, to which Durandal shrugged.

"She likely felt entitled to help _Galactica_ , since they helped her during the colony drop." He said, "Its only fair she is allowed to return the favor… or at least attempt too. It will not change the fact they are still our enemies though - once the EA is finished or retreats, we will move in and capture - or failing at that - destroy _Galactica_ before the EA can take their technology for themselves."

"If the Minerva survives and if the alliance doesn't restore power to _Galactica's_ weapons before the closest ships arrive. And that's IF we can take on those three ships. The _Arnulf_ disabled and captured the _Ammit_ three days ago, meaning a _Minerva_ -Class ship's chances in a straight fight are slim to none."

Durandal had to admit Eliza had a point.

"Then it's a waiting game. I pray that _Galactica_ is victorious."

* * *

 **Battlestar Mercury - Jupiter orbit**

* * *

Using a number of satellite relays, the Jupiter Armada were more then capable of listening in on any and all activities in the Earth Sphere.

And currently, Sasha Urei was watching her beloved flagship get the living tar beaten out of it.

"Galactica's _armor on the port flight pod is beginning to fail! I'm not sure how long_ -" The DRADIS screen displayed the image of _Galactica's_ port pod erupting in flames, barely controlled. " _She's on fire!_ Galactica _is in flames_!"

"Wait… if there is no air in space, how does fire-"

"Not the time, Rookie!"

Sasha's grip on the map was so tight some were worried she would either bend it or cause her hands to bleed. "We _cannot_ sit here… and watch _Galactica_ go down..." she growled.

"Nor should we..." Philip said as he watched the scene as well, scowling. " _Pegasus, Valkyrie,_ and _Yashuman_ are at Cyrannus… and with the _Amaterasu_ and _Dominion_ planetside… we're the only ones who _can_ support him."

"He told us to stay here… " Sasha said, "It would just cause more trouble on Earth..."

"I think that Junk Guild leader said we can't stay hidden forever." Philip said with a sigh, "We'll get in trouble for this… but this will be all for nothing if we lose _Galactica_."

"I'm with you." Sasha said nodding, as did the rest of the bridge crew of the _Mercury_.

"Alright then… let's do this then." He said, as he picked up the phone. "This is Admiral Philip to all ships: Prepare for FTL Jump to the Earth Sphere, _Galactica's_ coordinates! We are _NOT_ losing our fleet admiral _and_ Flagship after we just found them! I want every ship we've got over there NOW."

"Everyone, sir?"

" _Everyone._ "

"That's overkill, sir, and the Admiral-"

"I want four battlestar groups supporting _Galactica_ NOW. And get a Raptor back to Cyrannus! I don't think Commander Adama will be happy to know his father's getting his ass kicked." Alarms began going off before the third in command of the Fleet left Mercury's CIC, heading back to a Raptor so he could return to Kratos.

* * *

 **Battlestar** _ **Galactica**_

* * *

Another explosion rocked the first battlestar, throwing Ron from his chair. "Frak! Admiral, we just lost maneuvering thrusters and sublight engines!"

Tigh glanced at the damage control panel, grimacing. "Can't take too many more hits to port, or we're looking at explosive decompressions all along the port side!"

The lights flickered before they died. "And we just lost power."

"I want everyone on this ship armed! Prepare to be boarded!" Adama knew his ship was lost. with the reactors offline, the N-Jammer cancellers were useless, meaning he couldn't nuke Galactica from within.

But by HELL he was going to make OMNI Enforcer pay for every ATOM they took, and for each breath they inhaled. This would be the last stand that would inspire poets for millennia to come.

* * *

 **Aprilius One**

* * *

" _And the guns of the mighty_ Galactica _have fallen silent_." The ship that ZAFT feared was dark. Scarred and pitted.

Dead.

" _The fight is over._ Galactica _is about to be boarded in what looks to be a seriously bloody operation, but there is no doubt in this reporter's mind that_ Galactica _will soon fly the flag of the Earth-_ "

The _Papin_ suddenly had an explosion along its port side, before several _Elizabeth-_ Class battleships simply ceased to exist next to it " _What in the-_ " The reporter said, " _Where did that… shot..._ " The screen panned over to the side, where another Battlestar was, which looked identical to _Pegasus_ , but it had a different name on it:

 _Mercury_.

And it was most certainly not alone, as following behind it were flashes of light. Two, four, five, eight, ten 14, 19, 25, the number of flashes continued to light up the skies, and emerging from each flash… was a Battlestar. _Valkyrie, Galactica_ and _Mercury_ -class, along with _dozens_ of other battlestars, and _hundreds_ of additional colonial vessels never before seen…

...and then _it_ appeared: the massive, 90,000 meter _GIANT_ of a vessel, with its name imprinted in bold white letters: _ZEUS._

Durandal had the feeling the council was going to need to change their undergarments.

He'd know: he had to himself.

" _OH MY GOD! Ladies and gentlemen, this...this is impossible! hundreds of Colonial ships just jumped into range!_ " The only words to describe what would happen next were 'bullet hell', as the hyper-dreadnought (or was that Battlestar Dreadnought?) opened fire on the Papin, reducing the ship into a smoking wreck in FOUR SHOTS. The Charlemagne turned to run, fleeing as fast as her engines could push her, but a vengeful Pegasus fired her eight bow spinal cannons, slamming into the conning tower.

"Get the Minerva out of there. Now."

* * *

"HOLY FUCKING MOTHER OF SHIT!"

Captain Gladys' words were not opposed across the bridge and battlefield, as the ZAFT, and EA forces all collectively shat their pants at the sight of the new Colonial contacts.

" _WHERE THE FUCK DID THESE GUYS COME FROM?!_ " Shinn shouted as the Impulse fought off the now panicking EA forces.

" _No Ide-SHIT!_ " Athrun shouted, as the Saviour was hit by a Windam's beam blast while he was distracted, hitting his left leg and arm. Though Athrun used his right to fire his rifle at the enemy Windam, destroying it. " _Damnit, we can't stay here: This battle just turned into a free-for-all!_ "

"Yeah, a Colonial-biased one. Fall back! Get us into the atmosphere!"

"En route, Cap-" 50mm rounds slammed into Luna's ZAKU, tearing it apart. Talia sighted the cause of the now-crippled machine: another Galactica-Class battlestar, the _Wyvern_. Which looked just like _Galactica_ did at Jachin Due.

Talia began to hyperventilate as she was struck with flashbacks to the near-destruction of her ship. So paralyzed was she that Arthur Trine had to take command, and he was by no means good enough to do the job, either.

"Get us to safe harbor!"

Meyrin scoffed as she sent the recall order, taking a tally. Impulse, ZAKU Phantom...Saviour abandoned, ZAKU Gunner...lost.

' _Luna, you better hope our fleet saves your ass._ '

* * *

"Well… shit, that's what I get for being careless..."

Luna normally wouldn't of been caught so off-guard… but the arrival of so many colonial ships at once was almost too much for her to comprehend... she nearly exploded with excitement. But now she was stuck in her crippled ZAKU, and unable to return to the _Minerva_ as it was already GTFO'ing out of the battlespace - not that Luna could really blame them.

She turned her Zaku's head around as she saw a Viper flew by, and she immediately recognized the numbers on its wing plus its paint job belonging to a rather famous Viper pilot. "Starbuck?" She asked, before she hit the Comm. "Starbuck! Is that you?"

" _Damn right, Habu. Looks like you broke your toy. Need a lift?_ "

"Frak yes, I do! Get me back to Galactica!"

A Raptor approached the ZAKU, and Luna opened the hatch. The old girl was burned and scarred, but she was going to be ok.

She was always going to be ok.

* * *

 **Battlestar** _ **Galactica**_ **\- CIC**

* * *

The dark was something Adama always hated on a warship. It meant Cylons.

"How long?"

"Give me a second, boss..."

Sparks flew, followed by Ron impacting a wall before limited lights were restored. "Ok. that hurt. DRADIS should be back on in a second."

Gaeta stood back onto his feet at he looked at the screen. "DRADIS is online and… oh… wow..."

"'Oh wow' what, Mr. Gaeta?" Ron asked.

"The… EA forces are all gone… and we're surrounded by Colonial IFF's." He informed.

Adama groaned. "FRAK! I told them to stay at Jupiter!"

Ron stood up, saying something that was more or less unintelligible. "You've got a numb tongue, Colonel." He grabbed a piece of metal and a marker, writing down what he said. 'The flagship was getting the shit beaten out of her, on live TV. I'd've gone 'screw orders', too, sir.'

"That's no excuse." He wrote something else down. 'Everyone loves this ship, sir. They would not stand for it.'

"He's right." Tigh said sighing, " _Galactica_ is our flagship, and your the fleet Admiral. If they didn't show up when they did, we'd be FUBAR about now."

Adama said nothing before looking at Dualla. "Once comms are back online, get me Admirals Urei and Wallace. I'll yell at them instead. Colonel, sound my ship and get those FTLs back online!" Ron saluted and ran off.

The silence was enough to give them a good listen to something no one wanted to hear.

The groan of failing metal. Galactica's coffin had just been made.

And that was the first nail.

* * *

 **Aprilius One**

* * *

Durandal had to put earplugs on in a vain attempt to block out the noise and chaos which filled the council room as the Councilmen and women all were in a shouting match, talking about who was to blame and how this situation so quickly turned for the worse with the reveal that the colonials had FAR more ships than they were lead to believe… and that was an understatement to say the least. Unfortunately the plugs had little effect as he could still hear every shout, every scream… and did he just hear a chicken?

"ENOUGH!" Durandal's voice wasn't heard, however, forcing him to pull out something Patrick Zala kept just in case this happened.

A 200 disabel air horn.

He pressed the top, letting out a massive honk that shut EVERYONE up.

"Thank you. Blame can be thrown around LATER. what matters is that we have over 80 battlestars-" "And three dreadnoughts that LOOK like battlestars! What were we thinking with that stunt with the stampeder?!"

"We weren't." The Joule of the Council glared at Durandal. "Our esteemed chairman just decided to piss off the one group that NO ONE in their right mind WANTS to piss off. And a group that had more survivors then they said, probably to NOT cause a panic!" She gestured to the Council. "WHICH WE JUST WERE!"

"We're talking about an _ARMADA_ of ships!" Another councilor shouted, "And they've been playing the victim the entire time! This is an invasion force if I've ever SEEN one!"

Eliza shook her head. "I've talked to former Legion members. I've BEEN to the Colonies on a goodwill tour! They aren't playing the victim, they WERE victims! And that armada's barely a tenth the size of the pre-fall fleet! A TENTH. I've seen the wrecks, I've seen the bodies! They probably hid those ships to not make a scene!"

Durandal had enough. "The point remains. We now have more Colonial forces then they said they had. I am going to treat this as an invasion of the Earth Sphere. The 12 Colonies of Kobol are now the enemy of all the people in this solar system!"

* * *

 **Battlestar** _ **Mercury**_ **, acting flagship of the 12 Colonies of Kobol Defense Fleet - geosynchronous orbit over Berlin, Germany**

* * *

The Mercury flew behind the other ships of Battlestar Group 60 as the badly scarred _Galactica_ finally jumped away for repairs, leaving Adama behind in command of _Mercury_.

And Jaden was not pleased about the damage to the first battlestar ever built, as Ron read the damages to him. "The power network's a mess, we lost three KEW-1H turrets, 65 50mm emplacements are gone and the starboard flight pod is no longer operational."

"Well overall it could've been a LOT worse," Jaden said with a sigh, "The EA clearly wanted to capture _Galactica_ , and with our Comm's knocked out reinforcements wouldn't come in time - she'd be screwed if _Mercury_ and the rest of the fleet at Jupiter didn't show up. Her damage is bad, but it's repairable."

"No, it's not." Ron handed Jaden the report. "The hull is beginning to fail. I've ordered the yard dogs at Shipyard One to reinforce the hull using lunar titanium patches, but...Galactica's only got a few years of life left to her. Her bones aren't rotten anymore, but that won't matter. She's going to fail eventually. That fight was just the first nail in the coffin."

"We'll keep her alive for as long as possible," Jaden assured, "And if anything… _Galactica_ is gonna go down fighting - she's not gonna be turned into a museum ship on our watch."

"Up to the President and the Admiral." A ping caught their attention before their names were called.

"Colonel Pinkerton and Commander Takeo, please report to CIC. Colonel Pinkerton and Commander Takeo, CIC."

"The shit never ends."

* * *

Adama and Tigh, alongside Admiral Urei, watched an announcement on the DRADIS screen, which was being used as a TV.

"Fraking bastard. I try to limit the damage and he's whipping up hysteria."

The glass doors to CIC opened before the engineers entered. "Reporting sir. What's going on?"

"Durandal is making some kind of Speech," Tigh said, "And he edited the footage from the battle to make it look like ZAFT destroyed that super-Gundam thing, not us."

"And all the survivors in Berlin won't even get a word in, I take it."

" _-The attacks on the Eurasian Federation are the result of a group known as LOGOS, little more then corrupt businessmen wanting to make a profit off of their war machine. LOGOS will be hunted down and destroyed, but first, we must focus on the event that shocked us all... THe Colonial Fleet. Almost one hundred battlestars, hundreds of support ships, three massive dreadnoughts? They lied to us. Their worlds were not wiped out. This is an invasion force! I call upon all of the Earth to resist, to reject them wherever they are. We must not become their next conquest!_ "

"Oh sure, like people would want to piss off the guys who've been kicking their asses with just _five_ Battlestars, and now have nearly a _hundred_ battlestars, escorts and three Dreadnoughts the size of _colonies_." Jaden said rolling his eyes, "That's a _brilliant_ idea… *sigh* fuck it, I can't take this shit anymore..." He turned to the exit.

"Where are you going?" Adama asked.

"Doing something I should've done a _long_ time ago..." He replied, "Time to kick that idiot out of office… if you want something done right, ya gotta do it yourself."

"You and me both. Sir, permission to use _Hel_ to unleash a massive amount of pain on Durandal's retarded ass?"

"Do it. And record it for me." The CCE Lt. Colonel gave Adama a thumbs up before the pair left.

"Sir, we're picking up a transmission from the ZAFT battlecruiser Rockbell. They're requesting to relay a call to you from the PLANT Supreme Council." Adama looked at Mercury's comm officer before nodding.

* * *

The Raptor left _Mercury's_ starboard flight pod, heading for the more massive Hel. "You know this might not work. Plenty of people don't like your pop. Like people didn't like my cous-" Ron slapped a hand over his mouth.

"Correction, people from Earth don't like my father… well anyone who likes to work with Blue Cosmos - and now these LOGOS fucks." Jaden said, "What matters are the people of the PLANT's - they idolize my father, but people like Durandal and Zala have tried to manipulate the things he's said to fit their own agendas - I'm going to set the record straight, kick out the ignorant assholes, and put us back on the ideals that anyone with a fucking brain should understand, main point being NOT to fuck with the Colonials."

He then blinked as he realized what Ron said, "Wait… you have a Cousin?" He asked.

"...Had. She's dead. Sort of." Ron's eyes left the controls and he looked at Hel. THAT explained why Ron was so nice to Homura. "She had heart problems, and I was stupid. I got my hands on an experimental program from Graystone Industries and... She died, and a week later, I get a message. It was a scared little girl who had the same voice as my little cousin Homura."

"Wait, so… the Homura downloaded into the _Hel_ … is the same Homura who was your Cousin?" Jaden asked. "That's… actually… wow, why didn't _I_ ever think of that for next gen A.I's?"

"She doesn't remember WHO SHE IS! What I did was a horrible sin against nature! I should've learned my lesson from Graystone, but NO, I had to be an arrogant bastard and think I was smarter then him! If it weren't for the fact that the Admiralty needed me for the war effort, I'd've shot myself!" The Raptor almost missed the flight pod before Jaden took control of the craft.

"She doesn't remember..." Jaden mutterd as he landed the Raptor. "Hang on… Ron, I think she might have those memories."

"What makes you think that?" Ron said, sighing.

"Because how else does she know her name is Homura?" Jaden asked, causing Ron's eyes to snap open. "Of all the names she could've picked, she picked the same name as the woman she once was. Perhaps she has more memories about who she really is than you realize… She can enter Virtual Reality as well, correct? Once we take care of all this shit… you and I are gonna try something."

"She can." Ron said sighing. "I'm tempted to not try. She was my second cousin."

"What's that got to...oh. OH." Homura had a crush on Ron when she was living. THAT was going to be awkward to deal with.

* * *

 **Colonial One**

* * *

The makeshift press room on the former luxury liner-turned-presidential transport was not the place the world's press wanted to be. Admiral Phillip Wallace, Commander Nova Avalonia and her father, CCE commander Vice Admiral Zeus Avalonia stood by the side of their very, VERY angry President, Laura Roslin.

"My fellow Colonials… and people of the earth Sphere." Roslin said, her voice laced with barely contained anger. "Several hours ago… _chairman_ Gilbert Durandal informed you… that we were planning an invasion… that we lied to you about the colonies being destroyed, about our fleet size, and that it was ZAFT that destroyed the EA's new mobile weapon which devastated the Eurasian Federation capital of Berlin."

"First and foremost… while it is true we kept multiple colonial ships in orbit neaer Jupiter… we only discovered them through pure chance, and they are fellow survivors of the devastation of our homes." She continued, "We have kept them in Jovian orbit… because we knew you would panic, you would be afraid of us, and would jump to the same conclusion Durandal has… that it is an invasion force. I will assure the people of the earth sphere right now - this is _not_ an invasion force. For we only sought two things: for the survival of the colonial people… and the reclamation of our homes in the 12 colonies."

"However..." Roslin said, her hands gripping the side of her podium, gripping so tightly the wood began to break. "Gilbert Durandal... has the gaul to call us liars, when just several months ago he attempted to destroy the Battlestar _Pegasus_ with the Neutron Stampeder, and now he hass the godsdamned BALLS to lie to everyone about the EA Prototype weapon, which was not destroyed by ZAFT - but was destroyed by _US_ , when brave colonial soldiers put their lives on the line to save _millions_ of lives in Berlin from this needless slaughter." The screen began to show the images of the REAL Battle of Berlin, showing the Raptors jumping the Destroy into orbit, where _Galactica's_ guns destroyed it. "And now… he once again has the audacity to challenge us, to _insult_ the billions of people who died back at our homeworlds, and the thousands who died when we arrived here in your world, and despite that _continud_ to protect the PLANT colonies not once - but TWICE, as WELL as saving THE ENTIRE EARTH FROM BEING DESTROYED BY A COLONY DROP!"

Several press people winced and recoiled at Roslin's tone, but she was not finished yet. "In response to the hostile declaration against the 12 Colonies of Kobol by Chairman Durandal, I will commit all of our forces to total war. We will fight, and fight until Durandal is removed from office. May the gods have mercy on your souls."

Roslin ignored the requests to answer their questions as the three officers followed her out. "You've given the Admiral a blank cheque, ma'am. Bill's going to unleash hell on Earth just to make Durandal piss off."

"Admiral Avalonia, the last thing I want is to do to Earth what the Cylons did to our Colonies. But if they don't get the message to end this stupidity and talk with us, I will let Admiral Adama do whatever the hell he thinks is necessary. If that includes nuking ZAFT's bases on Earth, so be it."

Roslin had FINALLY reached the breaking point. No more Ms. Nice School Teacher. She practically called out Cain and Adama on abusing their battlestar privileges, so she could damn well call out a planet on being a bunch of retards!

"I want you to ruin ZAFT and what is left of the Atlantic Federation's forces, people. Make them realize that the only way they are going to end this war and survive the Cylons is by working with us instead of being suicidal and prideful. We had to learn that the hard way. Time for earth to learn the same damn lesson."

* * *

 **Gibraltar base**

* * *

With less then 800 people on base, Gibraltar was a nigh-ghost town.

"And that was from ONE Amaterasu-Class cruiser." Fires STILL raged in some areas, and MS wrecks were everywhere. Meyrin felt it odd that she felt like she was fighting her own people.

Then again, ZAFT and the PLANTs felt less of a home and more like some fairy tale land after a year and a half of service in the Foreign Legion. If it weren't for age restrictions, she'd be downing the drink mighty fast.

As in Colonel Saul 'the Rummy' Tigh fast.

Shinn had to agree with the younger hawke sister. "Times like this, you feel like you should just...LEAVE."

"Yeah..." Meyrin said, "Nothing good is coming from this war, with the Colonials going all out now… if we stay in ZAFT any longer, we're gonna get ourselves killed… "

"The next time the Amaterasu shows up, I'm leaving. I'll just hijack one of those new GOUFs and radio the strike force." Meyrin stood up before leaving the room.

Shinn was tempted to leave as well, but he thought he was of some better use in ZAFT: maybe he could convince the Chairman to surrender, to talk with the Colonials.

* * *

ZGMF-X42S Destiny and ZGMF-X666S Legend. Durandal had intended to give the latter to Athrun, a sort of irony considering the Providence's last pilot.

The Destiny was intended for Shinn. Once he had control of the machine, he would turn the Orb-born ace on the Colonials, tearing Galactica to pieces.

Thankfully, Shinn seemed to be willing to stay with ZAFT, Athrun on the other hand… not so much it would seem considering his latest… protest.

With the Colonials seemingly pulling out everything they had, ZAFT should be negotiating for terms of surrender, not fighting onward.

Thus, he had sent orders for Athrun's arrest. Perhaps the death of a Colonial sympathizer would be enough to turn the world against the Colonies. Because Athrun wasn't going to go quietly. He never did.

* * *

Meyrin smoothed out her green colonial-issue fatigues, ready to run when the alarm would no doubt sound. She was about to put on her ZAFT-issue coat when she spotted Athrun Zala running down the corridor, looking fearful for his life.

"Athrun?" Meyrin asked, "What are you=wha!" She yelped when Athrun suddenly came into her room, and locked the door behind him.

"Meyrin! I need your help!" Athrun said urgently.

Knocking was heard seconds later, and Meyrin had an idea.

* * *

ZAFT Marines were tough, hard as nails and brutal to the enemy. Only colonial Marines could best these men.

But they were nothing to the glare of a girl peeking out of her room with wet hair and a towel wrapped around her body.

There were some things worse then Colonial Marines.

"Do you MIND?! I was taking a shower!" "S-Sorry, Ms Hawke!" The door closed and the Marines left.

Idiots.

* * *

Athrun was surprised at Meyrin. She had ditched the ZAFT coat and was wearing a navy blue Colonial one with silver piping the second he had exited the apartment.

"You were planning on leaving?"

"During the next attack." She said, "The Colonials attack the base every couple of days: might as well get the hell out, right?"

"But how-"

"Hangar - I can program the catapult on the _Minerva_ to launch the Impulse wirelessly." Mayrin said, "No one should be onboard, at most a skeleton crew. Grab the Impulse, launch the Onyx pack, and we fly out of here. My Colonial transponder codes should warn the Colonials that we're friendlies."

Athrun had completely forgotten about Meyrin's CFL service. "You still have valid transponder codes?" "Yup. I worked in CIC most of the time, so I have a set. Just in case."

The pair quickly left the building, heading for the damaged flagship of ZAFT. Unfortunately, they were not as stealthy as they would've liked to be.

"Hey, is that Athrun?"

"Shit!" Athrun muttered as they double-timed it back towards the _Minerva_. Thankfully the _Minerva_ was just as deserted as Meyrin predicted, as they arrived at the hangar bay for the Impulse in a few minutes.

"Alright, you get the Impulse ready." Meyrin said as she worked on the controls of a console. "I'll access the hangar doors and the catapults."

She closed the access doors leading to the room, preventing the ZAFT marines from getting in and shooting them.

"Hatch doors are opening, launch sequence online!"

The catapult doors opened as the Core Splendor was raised upwards, the 15 year old barely getting into the fighter before it was beyond her reach. "Anything I should know about this Onyx flyer?" "Think of it as all three primary packs in one, like the Alliance Perfect pack."

"Got it." Athrun said, as he activated the Impulse's core fighter systems as the thrusters flared to life as Meyrin climbed in behind him. A few moments later, the fighter shot out of the _Minerva_ , soon joined by the individual limbs and the Onyx pack for the Impulse. (Still not in chat, Jorn.)

* * *

Rey za Burrel climbing into the cockpit of the Legend, activating the successor to the Providence as he prepared to engage the Impulse and destroy it. "Shinn, get in the Destiny! A spy's stolen the Impulse!"

"A spy? What the hell are you talking about?"

Rey resisted smirking. It was high time Zala died, anyway. "We're going to shoot down Athrun Zala."

* * *

Meyrin fiddled with the Impulse's IFF codes, finally getting them to match those of a Colonial-operated MS. "The Amaterasu SHOULD be jumping in soon. They like to ruin the base, in case you haven't noticed."

"That's a new side to you I haven't seen."

"Eh, I spent too much time with Colonel Pinkerton. I picked up on his sense of humor." She said, before the sensors went off and she groaned. "Well shit… we've got company."

"As in…?"

"Destiny and Legend."

"FUCK!"

The Legend just opened fire on the Impulse, while Shinn's panicking voice was heard on the wireless. "They've got nuclear reactors; we can't outrun them forever!" More hostile alarms were heard in the cockpit, causing Meyrin to smile. "We don't need to." Two sets of contrails shot past the Impulse, impacting the Legend and the Destiny's beam shields.

"Impulse, this is Rhino 094, based out of Amaterasu. We picked up your IFF and are inbound." "Copy, Rhino 094!"

* * *

Shinn could barely believe it. He had survived the unsurvivable.

Of course, he only had a few seconds to react once he picked up that Rhino. "Rey, we need to back off! That thing's still got 28 missiles, and we can't block all of them!"

" _We can handle a few-_ " Rey began to say, before appearing from a flash of FTL light almost as bright as its namesake, the _Amaterasu_ flashed into existance before them. " _... yes, its advisable we withdraw… we'll get Athrun another day._ "

That was the closest Shinn was probably going to get to hearing Rey say 'fuck this, we're LEAVING'. The Amaterasu's railguns were only a fraction of the power of Galactica's main batteries, but the Vipers worried him more then the ship itself.

'At least they won't blow up the base today.' The Destiny and Legend ran as fast as they could from the Orb-built Colonial heavy cruiser, while the Impulse gently put down on the deck. Moments later, the ship jumped away.

* * *

 **Battlestar Mercury**

* * *

With over half the fleet in the Earth Sphere, the rest still at Jupiter, Adama had stepped up his hit-and-run campaign. Half the Alliance bases had folded and surrendered to Colonial control, while ZAFT was falling back to the PLANTs and the few fortresses they still had left.

That wasn't to say it was all good news: the Freedom was damaged and the Archangel was thought lost. "DRADIS contact! It's the Amaterasu, Admiral."

"They're back early." Sasha said, "Put them on the comm. Something must've happened."

"Mercury, amaterasu: we're got someone on board that wants to speak with the Fleet Admiral." Adama picked up a handset, putting it to his ear. "This is Galactica Actual. Go."

"Admiral, you have no idea how glad I am to hear your voice, sir."

"Lieutenant Hawke. I see you decided to leave ZAFT."

" _Only so much insanity I could stomach, sir. Athrun Zala is with me, as well as the Impulse. I think Colonel Pinkerton and Commander Takeo would like to take a look at her._ "

"I'll let them know when they get back," Adama informed, "Jaden went off on some mission of his own, and Ron went with him… all he said was it had something to do with doing something he should've done a long time ago."

"Sir?" "It's a long story. Your sister's going to want to see you. I'll have you shipped back to Galactica ASAP."

He hung up the phone, missing the Galactica's larger CIC. 'This war's almost over. We just need to see it through.'

* * *

 **Ron the True Fan: Surprise. Been a while, but we're getting back to Galactica. It's time for the fun. (Evil giggling)**

 **117Jorn: Viva la revolución! *throws Molotov Cocktail* FIGHT THE POWA!**

 **Ron the True Fan: Well, someone's going to get their asses whooped. Just not us. Onward! To Heaven's Gate!**

 **Ja Ne!**


	11. Chapter 10: Apposing Destiny

**Chapter 11: Apposing Destiny**

* * *

 **Zaft battleship Minerva**

* * *

"Athrun STOLE the Impulse?"

"And the Onyx Pack. With Meyrin's help."

Talia planted her face on the desk. "If it isn't Colonial ships with anti-MS missiles, it's defecting personnel. What's next, Galactica with a levitator?!" Rey and Shinn shared a glance before Talia shut them up. "That is NOT a question either of you want to answer. We've got a number of ex-Eurasian ships docking here, and all of them want Djibril's head on a pike. We've got ONE more battle ahead of us. We're heading for Iceland and killing that bastard once and for all."

"Hopefully we can take him out before the Colonials do." Rey said, "If we are the ones who take Djibril down, we could have a spike in support for ZAFT. But if the Colonials beat us there..."

"They're too busy beating the shit out of us in space. We need to capture Djibril and fast. Otherwise, we're going to drag this out beyond our ability to fight it. The Colonials can repair and supply their forces outside the combat zone. We can't. So we're heading for Heaven's Base. And cutting the head off the snake."

* * *

 **Battlestar Hel**

* * *

Ron activated a link with the ship's AI core, allowing them to talk to homura without shutting the 10 kilometer long superdreadnought down. "I was thinking of talking to the President about getting the ban on AI development reciended. We could use the help on ships like Polaris."

"Yeah, having a shipboard A.I has always been something I've been wanting to do with our ships." Jaden said looking through several monitors. "It cuts down on crew requirements, leaving more space for hull plating, armor or even space to hold ground troops… so long as you make sure that A.I's don't find a ridiculous way to go rogue. Seriously, did you guys even BOTHER to have anything resembling Asimov's laws?"

"What?"

"Isaac Asimov's laws of Robotics. Law One: A robot may not injure a human being or, through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm. Law Two: A robot must obey orders given it by human beings except where such orders would conflict with the First Law. And Law Three: A robot must protect its own existence as long as such protection does not conflict with the First or Second Law."

"Yeah...Cylon AIs were modeled after human minds: no restrictions. I prefer them that way, as they're sentient beings that deserve the same respect as flesh and blood."

"I agree there," Jaden said, nodding "However, A.I or not, Laws must be put in place to maintain order. If an A.I were to break those laws, they would go through the same punishment as any human would and vice-versa. That's why I always believed in being very cautious with A.I research… last thing we need is a Hal 9000 or Skynet."

"Who?"

"Hal is an A.I from 2001 A Space Odyssey, and Skynet's an A.I from the Terminator movies." He said, "Skynet perceived humanity as a threat to its existence, accessed nukes, nuked Russia, Russia nuked America, then Man vs Machine war shortly after… also a LOT of time travel. And those Terminators were SCARY."

"How scary?" Ron asked, as Jaden pulled out his Pad, and showed a picture of a T-900 fully armed, half of its face looking human, the other half… not so much.

"...What is it with you people? That's more or less what happened to us!"

"What, a humanoid model that WASN'T organic?"

"Two of them, to the best of my knowledge. Long story, don't want to get into it."

The handset buzzed before Ron flicked it on vox. "Pinkerton." "Colonel, ZAFT forces are sending a force to Iceland."

"Heaven's Gate? That's practically OMNI Enforcer GHQ, the second-most defended place in the solar system. What the hell are they planning?"

"Its likely to gain some publicity." Jaden said, "If ZAFT defeats OMNI on their home turf, _and_ manage to nab Djibril, people in the PLANT's and on Earth will have some more support for ZAFT. They probably want to beat the Colonials to the punch, since if you guys axed the bastard, _you'd_ get a shitton of support."

"What would you suggest doing?" Ron asked.

"Hmm… I say let ZAFT at it," Jaden said, "Djibril is a clever bastard, I doubt he'd let himself get cornered at Heaven's Gate. He'll escape and likely go somewhere else, likely somewhere with a mass driver so he could escape into space… _that_ could be when we nab the bastard ourselves."

Ron tapped the comm again. "Launch a pair of Ravens and a stealth Raptor. Tell them to not engage the enemy." "Understood, sir."

"If he runs..." He flicked the comm off. "We'll know where he's going."

* * *

 **Off the coast of Iceland**

* * *

Heaven's Gate.

OMNI Enforcer's planetary general headquarters, and the second-most heavily defended place on the planet, the first being Ptolemaeus Crater post-Valentine War.

And Talia Gladys was staring it down. Their job was to smash through the defenses and get Djibril while the rest of the fleet held off the rest of the defenders. Thankfully they weren't doing it alone - with some support from defecting Eurasian and EA forces to support their own forces, and having the Destiny and Legend among their MS complement helped in morale quite a bit after Athrun 'abducted' Meyrin.

That did not mean it was going to be easy. Outside the base were a number of surface warships and the one thing Talia didn't want to face: a Charlemagne-Class battleship, IFF IDing her as the EAS Ramses. The Charlemagne was built to kill Galactica, and they forced the Colonial's hands into revealing their forces. The Minerva was a toothpick compared to that.

"Launch the mobile suits and prepare for anti-ship and anti-MS combat! Our primary target is the Ramses!" The coordinator resisted glaring at her leader, who sat behind her on the bridge of the flagship.

"Sir, I think you should transfer your flag. We're going into combat, and risking-" "Nonsense. This is the safest place in the solar system at the moment."

Talia scoffed. "With all due respect, the safest place is on Galactica. That ship just refuses to DIE."

* * *

At Heaven's Base itself, Djibril sat down with his counterparts from LOGOS.

"With the way things are going… I believe its time that we implement plan Omega." Djibril informed them. "With the way the war is going, and now that LOGOS has been forced out into the open thanks to Durandal, our only way of survival is to leave the Earth Sphere. You must all get into space by any means necessary, and we shall all regroup at the Arzachel Crater."

" _What about you, sir?_ " One of the LOGOS members asked.

"The _Akhenaten_ is heading to my position now," he informed, "It shall serve as my chariot to Orb… Yuna, have you set the proper preparations in place?"

" _Yes, lord Djibril._ " Yuna informed nodding, " _We will be read to recieve you. If ZAFT does follow you to Orb, I shall commit the Orb Military to defend our Mass Driver long enough for us to make our escape on the_ Akhenaten."

"Oh, that won't be necessary. But have them ready, regardless." The base began to shake as ZAFT began their assault. "I will be leaving the base's defense in the capable hands of the commanders. I have a ship to get to."

* * *

A Dagger L exploded at the hands of the Destiny, its' pilot more than willing to continue the killing spree.

"Minerva _to Destiny: we're picking up multiple large contacts coming from the base._ " Shinn looked landward, blanching at the sight. the GFAS-X1 Destroy took the entire main armament of the Galactica to take out. Now there were THREE of them coming from the base!

" _Don't worry, Shinn._ " Rey said as the Legend flew forward. " _We take them down, one by one together. Reinforcements from orbit will be here soon._ "

"Unless those reinforcements have nukes, we're going to need backup." The Destroys fired on the two Gundam-class Mobile suits, forcing them to use their beam shields for cover. THAT gave Shinn an idea.

"Minerva, send out the Impulse's Sword Flyer! I have a plan!"

* * *

Destroy Unit 2 crushed a BABI in its' oversized hands before firing at the Minerva-Class battleship Ceres, missing the bridge. Then the arm fell off, exploding. The CPU barely understood how that happened. Until the Destiny came in and hacked through the head and torso, destroying the massive mobile weapon. Rey's MS, holding the Excalibur AS-sword from the Sword Flyer, had similar results.

Then they saw the _Rameses_ fire her main engines and take off, heading for orbit.

"Well, gotta respect OMNI Enforcer for one thing: those ships can come and go as they please." "SHOOT THAT THING DOWN!"

Shinn scoffed. "Shoot down the fifth most heavily armed warship in the solar system. RIGHT. My name isn't Suicidal Shinn Asuka."

Rey then fired everything he had at the Rameses before closing in to attempt to finish it at point-blank range.

That was a mistake, as the ship's aft weapons array fired back, forcing Rey to fall back.

Much to Shinn's infinite amusement.

At the same time, the _Akhenaten_ began its own move, as it blasted through the ZAFT forces with the support of the last two Destroy units, covering its escape from Heaven's Base. " _Damnit! They're getting away!_ " A ZAFT pilot shouted.

"Track them! TRACK THEM!" ZAFT recon units in space tracked the massive ships and their respective courses, but there was nothing they could do to stop them.

* * *

 **Battlestar Galactica**

* * *

The flagship of the fleet looked like it had taken a hammer and a blowtorch taken to it, but was intact, and had been repaired...to a degree. And now Tyrol was busy pulling off the armored cover for the Destroy's cockpit with help from Amy, a CCE Major named Yuna Farron and a lot of crowbars.

"Come on! Put your backs into it! Commander Takeo wants that OS, and so does colonel Pinkerton!"

"Shame we weren't able to get the pilot out." Amy said, grunting as she used a Crowbar to try to yank a melted slab of metal out of the way. "...assuming he or she somehow _survived_ _Galactica_ 's barrage to begin with."

"Might've been an Extended. Probably more merciful that the poor bastard's de-" The armored cover failed, sending Tyrol to the deck with three and a half tons of melted titanium landing just beside his head. "Whoa."

The pink-haired Major (no relation to Lacus, and no one knew it the hair was natural or not) peered into the cockpit, looking annoyed before looking at Amy. "Are you people fraking with us?"

Amy blinked "What are you talking about?" She asked in confusion as she helped Tyrol back to his feet.

She grabbed Amy and forced her to look into the cockpit. There was no seat, only a large, damaged computer. yuna reached in and pried off a piece of metal covering before removing a large computer chip. "THIS is a metacognitive processor. Only three groups know how to make one of these: the CCE, the Cylons and after we gave you access to our files, the Junk Guild!"

"Whoa whoa whoa!" Amy shouted as she raised her hands in defense. "JG never gave _anything_ to the Alliance! Jaden memorized the specs to the processors, and only me and him know how to make them! No one else in the Junk Guild could've possibly had access to those specs unless they were freaking _psychic_."

Yuna glowered at her before Tyrol climbed into the cockpit, pulling out another part. "Hey, Amy, do you guys use parts made by someone called 'Dassault-Dornier'?"

"No, we make everything in-house now." She said, "Why?"

Tyrol handed her a chunk of cooling material, which had the logo for the French corporation etched into it, as well as the words 'property of OMNI Enforcer'. "The Guild didn't make this MCP, Major."

"Then how the frak did they get their hands on it?!" Yuna shouted.

"Isn't it possible that they, like… captured something Colonial?" Amy asked, "Something not belonging to either the CCE or Junk Guild? I mean… there's no way it could've been Cylons, right? The only Cylons we've seen are from that Guardian Basestar, and there's _no way_ The EA could've gotten anything from the Cyrannus System without their own FTL drives."

"Well, one of our store rooms was broken into a year ago, and the Centurions inside went missing. We thought they were destroyed, but...maybe not."

"Frak! Chief, get _Hel_ on the horn: I want Jaden and our boss over here to look at this thing!"

* * *

Adama looked at the damage reports and stress tests for his ship. The luna titanium alloy had extended Galactica's life, and were practically the only thing keeping the battlestar from shutting like a book.

The Junk guild had also installed six levitator units into the battlestar for some reason. THe junkers liked to screw around, mostly that Lowe gear idiot.

"Well, the new bones are the only thing keeping the old girl from shuttin' like a book. Armor plating looks like it went through a frakin' warzone."

Adama fixed tigh with a look. "It did. How long until the hull begins to fail?"

"Could be months. Could be years. Bill, the old girl wasn't designed to tackle ships like the _Charlemagne_. We're going to need new ships, and soon."

"Sir, I have Raven 092 on the wireless," Gaeta reported, "They have a report on the location of the _Akhenaten_."

"Isn't that one of the _Charlemagne's_ sisters?"

"Her sixth. That thing should be at Heaven's Gate."

"Not anymore, sir: the ship's en route to Orb." The old men looked at one another before the Admiral gave a simple order.

"Get me the President."

* * *

Laura Roslin wasn't happy. And an unhappy Roslin was not something the Earth Sphere wanted to have.

"Admiral, what do you think would happen if the PLANTs discovered Djibril was in Orb?"

" _Undoubtedly an all-out assault._ " Adama said, " _It won't be like the_ Archangel _during the first war here, there would be ample proof he's there… only now, Orb still hasn't recovered fully from the EA's invasion. If ZAFT were to attack now with the support they've managed to gain, Orb won't stand a chance without a few trump cards up their sleeves._ "

"We have a trump card." She said, "The _Amaterasu_ and her sisters can jump down there. To hell with the Alliance: Orb's a Colonial ally."

" _The_ Amaterasu _is a powerful ship, but she isn't as intimidating as a battlestar. Something the Junk guild seemed to predict._ "

Roslin resisted the urge to smile. "How?"

" _They installed levitator units. I'll have Colonel Pinkerton add them to Polaris' design later if he hasn't already._ "

"Remind me to think of a proper way to thank the Junk Guild for that then." Roslin said, "Make whatever preparations you need to Admiral, when ZAFT attacks Orb, the Union WILL have our support."

"I'll have Colonel Pinkerton sent over: he's flown a battlestar in the atmosphere during the war." He didn't mention the fact that it was a Sobek-Class ship, nor that it was a thin atmosphere on a moon.

Roslin didn't need to know. All that she needed to know was that ZAFT was about to get a VERY rude awakening.

* * *

 **Battlestar Hel**

* * *

"I'm going to head over to Galactica: there's an operation going on, and I need to fly her. YOU, Jaden, have a different mission."

"Hell, it's about time" Jaden said, as he put the helmet on for the Warsuit. "I'll do a little Zero-G walk over to Aprilius, get inside and find her in the apartment. While I'm here though I'm gonna call some of my old contacts… if we're gonna oust Durandal from office, this'll be the best way to do it. I'll probably have to get a message out to Lacus too."

"Speaking of which, don't they have an upgraded version of the Freedom to hand him?" Ron asked.

"X20A Strike Freedom." Jaden replied with a shrug, "Not much of an upgrade: they removed the shoulder cannons and added DRAGOONs in their place, along with a "Calidus" Multi-phase Beam Cannon and beam shields. I find it rather idiotic, one could've _easily_ modded the original wings with DRAGOON deployment binders. All you'd really need to do is update the reactor."

Ron scoffed. "Damn right. At least WE came up with a good upgrade."

Jaden raised an eyebrow. "To what?"

"Well, we had to replace the cockpit."

"Wait… the _Providence_?" Jaden asked, "Shit, I almost forgot you guys took that thing. I heard ZAFT made a replacement to that though… the X666 Legend… I also heard they made a mass produced ZAKU variant, the Providence Zaku…good machines, but they likely lack the JG or CCE touch."

"Yeah. Lightened the MS, added new weapons, removed that idiotic composite weapons thing on the left arm... beam shields, new reactor. Fear the CCE, for we are NASTY."

Ron walked towards a Raptor, then gave Jaden a thumbs up. "Get her home, kid."

"I intend to."

* * *

 **ZAFT battleship Minerva**

* * *

Orb.

Shinn wanted to hate Orb. He did. But Orb didn't kill his family. Sure, it failed to protect them, but it did not kill them.

Nor did the Freedom. He tried to defend the refugees escaping the country.

He couldn't blame the Forbidden, either: the pilot was an Extended, and thus under the control of Muruta Azrael.

No, the ones to blame were Blue Cosmos. How could such idiots be born in the modern era?

But back to Orb. He couldn't hate the country because of the Colonies.

Every time he saw a Murasame, he saw a Dart in its' place.

'One more battle. One more, and it's all over.'

* * *

 **Battlestar Galactica**

* * *

Operation: Hailmary. It would be the counterattack against ZAFT, starting with a 100,000 foot drop onto the ZAFT fleet.

And Adama was planning on launching all of his Vipers to make ZAFT bleed and run.

"Fucking A Levitators." Ron said with a chuckle, "So _that_ was what Jaden wanted to suprise me with."

"With those installed, _Galactica_ will jump into a massive thunderstorm cloud bank nearby." Adama said, "It will mask our jump, and keep us hidden long enough to launch our attack. ZAFT may expect the _Amaterasu_ , but there is no way they could be prepared for a battlestar in-atmosphere."

"And the weather report for Orb is as follows." ron mock-coughed into his hand. "On November 13th, there will be an 87% chance of thunderstorms...And a 100% chance of battlestar ruining your day." The two colonels began to laugh at the joke. Adama didn't. But he liked the idea. "Our first jump will be in the atmosphere. THose things will take time to fully power up." "Enough time to launch our Vipers before we jump into the clouds." "And then we rain cannon fire on them. Bill, this plan is Starbuck-worthy." "That's why it's going to work, Saul. Colonel Pinkerton, take the helm. And sound action stations."

* * *

 **November 13th, CE 73**

* * *

The war had turned against him. No matter. Earth had turned against him, against the natural order of things.

So he would leave. The Centurions prepared the Heavy Raider from the basestar for takeoff as Djibril watched. He had thought that he could reforge Earth, though mostly because he thought he had no other choice… Earth was all they had. But then the Colonials arrived, and revealed that the galaxy was much larger than they could've imagined, and now the chance to find new worlds, ones to colonize and embark upon a new chapter of _true_ human history could begin.

"Lord Djibril, you...wanted...to-" The younger Seiran froze at the sight of the Centurions.

"Ah, Lord Seiran." Djibril said, as "Good. I wanted to speak with you."

"L-Lord Djibril..." Yuna said, eyeing the Centurions. "T-Those… those are-"

"Centurions, yes… but not from the Colonials." Djibril said in a calming tone, "LOGOS has managed to capture multiple examples of Cylon technology both from an infiltration of the _Galactica_ , and a single Cylon Basestar which arrived in our star system several months ago. We have been going to extreme lengths to ensure these… innovations are kept top secret from anyone who doesn't need to know… most notably the Colonials."

The lavender-haired noble sweat bullets as the Centurions thudded past. He had seen images of those things on Galactica, killing or wounding dozens of people. "They have something called a telencephalic inhibitor. gives them the abilty to think creatively, but not the gift of sentience. And the inhibitors are built into the chips, and will fry the Centurions should they malfunction. The perfect way to ensure obedience."

"I...see." "We will be leaving Earth soon, Yuna. The coordinators have fooled the world into thinking that we are the threat, not they, and the Colonials are too trusting of them. And I want you to join me."

"M-Me sir?!" Yuna asked in surprise.

"You are one of the most loyal members to LOGOS," Djibril said, "And if I plan to rebuild what we lost here at Earth from scratch, I cannot hope to accomplish it all by myself, even _with_ the aid of our own Centurions. I have my agents keep us updated on current events here… but if the true ideals of LOGOS or Blue Cosmos are to survive, we must leave."

"But the shuttle you asked me to prepare-" "Is nothing more then a target. The Colonials are hunting for my head, remember? Let them shoot it down and think they killed me. The _Akhenaten_ is little more then a distraction, as well."

Seiran smiled in delight. "You're going to mock them. Oh, the thought of the look on Durandal's face will be entertaining!" Djibril gestured to the Heavy, and allowed the leader of Orb to board. "Oh, I need to get something! I can't believe I forgot!" "What's so important, Lord Seiran?" "A pet project of mine! I'll tell you on the way up!"

A few minutes later, and the Orb noble came back with a suitcase. "Sorry." Yuna ran into the Cylon-built shuttle, and Djibril followed as the hatch began to close. He would be the last Blue Cosmos member to step foot on earth.

* * *

 **ZAFT battleship Minerva**

* * *

"Orb has sent their reply: they continue to deny the fact that Djibril is within their borders." Arthur reported, as Talia sighed.

"Idiots..." she muttered, "They can't just shoo us away like they did when they hid the _Archangel_ … I hate to attack the nation that helped us just a few months ago, but… orders are orders..."

Alarms blared as the bridge descended under armored titanium. "Launch all Mobile suits! Prepare for anti-ship, anti-Mobile suit and anti-strike craft combat!" "Ma'am?" "The Colonial government has always denied Yuna Roma Seiran's government as legitimate, promoting Representative Athha's instead. I expect to see the _Amaterasu_ and her sisters."

With five _Minerva_ -Class ships en route to Orb, along with the _Gonawana_ , even the mighty goddesses would be hard-pressed to defend their ally.

"Ma'am, I'm picking up multiple Orb Murasames and one unknown Mobile Suit en route from our flank."

"On screen." Talia said, as the front screen displayed several Orb Murasame's, however leading the formation was a more humanoid mobile suit, colored entirely gold. "What the hell is that?"

"Unknown, it doesn't match anything in the database." Arthur reported, "It may be some sort of Experimental… "

"Another Colonial unit?" "Negative, ma'am: those are standard Murasames, not Darts. Colonial Mobile suits always mount FTL drives. Those are at the edge of our sensor range." And that gold one looked a LOT like the Strike. "Intercepting transmission on unencoded frequency, ma'am."

Talia gestured to put it through. "Attention Orb forces! This is Cagalli Yula Athha! As of this moment, I am taking command of the defense forces! Stand fast: help is on the way!"

"Send Shinn and Rey to take that golden Mobile suit out! NOW!"

* * *

"We have confirmation that Cagalli has entered the battle." Gaeta informed. "ZAFT forces are beginning the assault."

"And Djibril?" Adama asked.

"Intel says Serian has already prepared a shuttle for him," He informed, "Its going to launch from the Mass Driver once its fueled."

"If we're gonna do this, best do it now, Bill." Tigh said.

Adama grabbed the handset. "All hands...Brace for turbulence."

And with that, Galactica's flight pods retracted...and the mighty ship jumped into the atmosphere.

"Report!" "We're in freefall, sir! 99000 and falling like a rock! Levitators are online!" "Standby FTL!" Several BaBIs at high altitude were crushed by the multi-million metric ton battlestar, before the ship jumped.

* * *

"Six Murasames and one golden gundam-class MS. Should be easy enough." Shinn fired his GX2000 multiphase cannon at the golden machine, which made no attempt to dodge.

For reasons made VERY clear seconds later, as the beam was sent BACK AT HIM. "YOU'VE GOTTA BE SHITTING ME!" he blocked the beam with his beam shield, but it wasn't exactly comforting to know that more of his weapons could be turned against him.

Beeping caught his attention before he looked at the radar, seeing a massive contact.

One that he shouldn't be seeing in the atmosphere.

'BS-75 GALACTICA'. "Rey...are your sensors picking up Galactica?"

" _I am… sensor must be malfunctioning._ " Rey said, " _Even IF_ Galactica _had the same engines as the_ Gondwana _, we would be able to-_ " Anything he was about to say was cut off, as from out of the nearby storm, like a shark emerging from the ocean, flew forth the ever-so infamous Battlestar, its shadow covering up much of the battlefield below as everyone - Orb, ZAFT and EA, looked up in shock, awe and horror.

" _Attention Assholes!_ " A voice shouted, belonging to none other than Ronald Pinkerton. " _For your upcoming ass-rape, my friend Jaden had a song request! Hit it!_ "

 **BGM: All Along the Watchtower - Jimi Hendrix**

The flight pods began to extend, launching out the aging battlestar's Viper squadrons before the 30 Mobile Suits of the 1st Tactical MS Squadron launched out of the pods, allong with Raptors and Rhinos.

That was before she opened fire with her guns.

" _And THIS is why I LOVE these guys!_ "

BaBIs and ZAKUs were shot down by the Rhinos, led by a familiar-looking MS.

The Impulse.

" _YEEEEEHHHHHAAAAAAWWWWW!_ " Luna shouted as she charged into battle, " _I'm BACK where I BELONG!_ "

" _Traitor._ " Rey growled, as he charged the Legend forward to attack the Impulse.

"Rey, hold on!" Rey ignored Shinn's warnings. And barely realized why. The missile racks on the Onyx weren't carrying ZAFT AGM141s anymore. They were packing ASM-14H Titanomachia. 16 of them. "Fox 4-2!" Four missiles left the pods, and Rey was forced to activate the beam shields to repell the overpowered warheads.

"Rey, get out of there!" Shinn drew the Arondight to block a strike from the Akatsuki before falling back himself. There were hundreds of Colonial birds in the air, all armed with anti-MS missiles that were imposible to dodge.

Then there was Galactica, which was firing on the Ceres, turning it into a smoking wreck with 8-ton shells. "Captain, I humbly request that we get the fuck out of here! Galactica's going to tear us apart!"

* * *

"Worked like a charm!" Starbuck shouted with a mad grin as she flew her Mk-VII Viper forward along with four others as they intercepted any airborn threats from BABI's to DINN's. "They never saw it coming!"

" _Ma'am, I've got a shuttle on the Mass Driver,_ " One of her wingmen said, " _Its gotta be Djibril's shuttle!_ "

"rolling in!" The Viper rolled over, arming all three of the 30mm cannons. "We've got one shot! One pass, unload what you can into it!"

Starbuck fired on the shuttle as she dived on it, unloading hundreds of rounds into the craft before pulling out of the dive and heading off. All four other Vipers made similar passes on it, and it exploded before it reached the end of the driver. "Woohoo! Alright, boys and girls, let's finish the job! Head for the Minerva: time to make some pain!"

Her Viper VII banked left, but that was when she noticed the DiNN trailing behind them, firing off its missiles "SHIT! BREAK!" She shouted as she reversed her turn, avoiding a direct missile hit, but one missile hit her engines, causing her Viper to spew out smoke.

"FRAK! KRYPTER KRYPTER KRYPTER! This is Starbuck: I've got a broken bird and need to punch out!" 40mm shells hit the bird as she pulled the ejection handles, and the flaming viper rammed into one of the Minerva's CIWS mounts, destroying it as she landed on the Minerva's isode 460mm cannon turret. Seconds later, a ZGMF-2000 GOUF Ignited landed near the turret, its' Cylon-like monoeye boring down on Thrace. "Frak!" She raised her hands into the air, not intent on dying.

But she would fight back when given the chance.

* * *

"Fuck this! Fall back! All ships, FALL BACK!" "Minerva, this is St. Hellens: I haven't given the order to retreat!" Talia glared into the monitor before the commander of the sub command ship flinched. "We are up against the Battlestar Galactica! The Nightmare of ZAFT! She didn't get that title from being FRIENDLY!"

At that moment, _Galactica's_ ventral guns began to turn down towards the ZAFT fleet. _That_ was all Talia needed to see to know the mission was officially FUBAR. " _Minerva_ to all ZAFT forces! Fall back! I repeat: Fall Back!" She shouted, "We don't have the firepower to take something like _Galactica_ down!"

The guns opened fire, missing some of the Minerva's sisters, but there were multiple explosions in the water as the St. Hellens disappeared from the commlink. 'Oh, God, he's gunning for the subs. THen he's going to hit US!' "This is Minerva Actual: GET THE FUCK OUT OF HERE!"

The fleet turned tail and ran as fast as they could before more Colonial units jumped in, followed by the Archangel's arrival, with a new and improved Strike Freedom.

Talia was not in the mood to get shot at. "Fire retreat flares! And tell security to get that POW in the brig!"

* * *

"ZAFT forces are in retreat! We've done it, sir!"

There were a series of cheers on the bridge, though Adama remained silent as he looked at the tactical display showing the ZAFT forces in full retreat.

"Get me a headcount," Adama ordered, "I want to know who's alive and who's MIA now."

"Two Suits destroyed, nine of our Vipers were shot down...eight recovered pilots." Adama spun to face Dualla. "Who?" "...Starbuck, sir. She was shot down. She punched out, but was captured by the Minerva."

Groaning was heard from the ship itself, making Ron jump to the FTL console. "Sir, the hull can't take this much longer. We need to recover our birds and jump back into orbit. Otherwise the hull's just going to-" The ship shook, and more metallic groaning was heard. "SIR!"

"Frak..." Adama growled, "Get them back and Jump us out… "

* * *

 **Carpintaria base**

* * *

"Kara Thrace." Talia stood in front of the Colonial Viper pilot, who was heavily restrained. "Viper pilot in the Colonial Naval Defense Force, service number 462753. You do realize that you will not get out of here, correct?"

"Yeah, well, talk to me about escaping impossible situations, boss lady."

"So I've heard." Talia said as she sighed. "I _really_ don't want to do this Starbuck… if it were my call, I'd just lock you in the brig till this whole thing was over with… but Durandal, as you can probably guess, is getting desperate."

"Yeah, I figured. Big fraking Colonial fleet." "You're being sent to a facility called MESSIAH. I don't even know what it is, and I pray that your people rescue you before then." Starbuck's mocking grin never left her face before Talia left. The war was basically over. the Colonials had killed Djibril.

"Captain, please report to the bridge. We're getting ready to head into space."

* * *

 **Aprilius One - Clyne Penthouse Apartment**

* * *

Meer gulped a bit as she read through the script that Durandal had sent her, outlining what he wanted her to say in his next statement. It _did_ sound like something Lacus would say after all… all that mattered was that she gave her best performance as Lacus Clyne herself. She started this whole thing to _be_ Lacus after all, since Durandal claimed he needed someone to fill in her shoes since she was MIA.

Though recently… she _has_ been having a few doubts. With all of the insanity Durandal has been committing to, and how it seems as if he _wants_ to keep fighting the EA and the Colonials despite claiming he wants nothing but peace… it hasn't exactly filled her with confidence.

She heard a knock at her door, as she sighed, assuming it was her bodyguard/assistant. "Mana, I've got this." She said, as she rubbed her forehead. "Tell Durandal I'll have the thing down in time."

"Ah, but is that what you _want_ to do, Meer?" a voice asked, causing Meer to freeze and blink.

' _Wait… no way, that can't..._ ' she thought before she ran over to the door, undid the locks and flung it open, and was greeted by the sight of a figure clad in a type of armor, but his helmet was removed, revealing the face of none other than Jaden Takeo.

"Hey Meer." Jaden said with a smile, "Long time no see, eh?"

"Jaden?" Meer asked in suprise, looking at the man. "But...Where were you? It's been a couple of months-"

"Months?!" Jaden asked incrediously, "Meer, you've been missing for almost three years! We've been looking for you! I was starting to think you were dead!"

Meer's face paled and she stepped back. "W-wait… T-three YEARS?" She asked, "That… that can't..."

Jaden rose an eyebrow at her confused face. She obviously had no idea what was going on. Sighing, he began the command which opened his Warsuit up, allowing him to step out as his power armor went onto standby mode. "Meer… its C.E 74 now." He said, "Almost 75… how could you not know that? And why do you look almost identical to Lacus now?"

Meer bit her lip a bit, before she sat down on the bed. "It… it was after my last rehersal..." she said, "Like I told you on the phone they… didn't take me cause… I sounded like Lacus again. Then some lady from the Council approached me, said the Chairman wanted to meet with me. He told me he needed me to… to _be_ Lacus."

"Did he ask why?" Jaden asked, as he sat next to Meer.

"He said it was because since the real Lacus was missing… he needed someone to keep the people of the PLANT's calm." She said, "From… going crazy on the radical side like in the last war… because I sounded just like Lacus, I was perfect for the role... I could finally use the thing that prevented me from doing anything… to help everyone, to _be_ my Idol! So the Chairman had me go through a lot of surgeries… it was all a bit hazy what they used but… when I woke up, I looked just like Lacus! And then I heard about all the things about the Colonials and the EA… and Durandal had me do my job, in Lacus's place I do my best to keep the people calm..."

"Meer, the Chairman _knows_ were Lacus was - he tried to have her killed." Jaden said, causing Meer's eyes to widen as she spun to face him.

"W-what?" She asked, "W-hat are you talking about?"

"So you didn't know..." Jaden said, sighing a bit in relief. "Yeah… Kira Yamato - the pilot of the Freedom? He was living with Lacus, and ZAFT Spec Ops attacked their home."

"Wait, why would he do that?" Meer asked, "The Chairman… he needed me to do this _because_ Lacus was missing!"

"Because he wanted to keep _you,_ and get rid of the real Lacus." Jaden said, "He knows the real Lacus would never support his ideals, that she would stand against ZAFT fighting the Colonials… he wanted a Lacus Clyne that he could _control_ \- that being you. And if the real Lacus showed up, it would reveal the fact that you're not real, and would make Durandal look even _more_ like a lying, silver-tongued bastard… which he is, by the way."

"But he..." Meer said, shaking her head. "Everything he said… everything he _showed_ me… it all said it was still... "

"Meer..." Jaden said, putting a hand on her shoulder. "Come on… let's get out of here."

"I-I can't just _leave_!" Meer said, "People… People are actually looking up to me now! I'm _being_ someone important!"

"Meer, you're _pretending_ to be Lacus Clyne!" Jaden said, "Your not Lacus, you're Meer!"

"So what if I'm Lacus! No one ever wants _me_!" She shouted, "My 'career' has just been one failure to another! My voice has always gotten people to just… just compare me to Lacus! How she's so perfect, and just because I sound like her practically bars me from doing _anything_! No one wants Meer Campbell!"

"I do, dammit!" Jaden shouted, causing Meer to jump a bit in surprise. "I mean… Meer… I… _I_ want you… I don't care what anyone else thinks or says… they can compare you to Lacus as much as they want… but I know _you_ \- the _real_ Meer Campbell… a strong, smart and determined woman who won't just roll over and take no for an answer… and wanted people to remember her for _her_ accomplishments… not Lacus. It may've been three years… but I _know_ that part of you hasn't changed… I can see it in your eyes."

Meer bit her lip. Jaden DID consider her a friend, and important for being herself, and not for being Lacus. "I...I'm sorry. I just...feel so...worthless."

Jaden put an arm around her shoulder, rocking her as she started crying. "Come on, Meer. Let's go. Amy misses you." Meer said nothing as Jaden lifted her to her feet. "How...how are we going to get out of here?"

"I appropriated a ZAFT shuttle thanks to some friends." He said, "We can get back to the battlestar _Hel_. You'll be safe there."

"But...the Colonials-"

"They're human." He said, "They're good, they're bad and they're ugly at times. But Colonel Pinkerton and Admiral Adama won't let you get hurt. You stay here...Durandal won't see a point in keeping you alive if the real Lacus shows up."

Meer paled, reason reaching her mind. Jaden was right. If Lacus popped her head up to reason with the world...the deception would be revealed.

And what reason would they have to keep her alive?

"Uh...where is that Shuttle of yours?"

Jaden smiled as he stood up, helping Meer back to her feet. "Hope you don't mind taking a short space walk." He said, "You remember what I taught you, right?" She nodded. "Alright." He opened up his power armor again, as he allowed himself to step inside as it closed in around him. "Come on, Meer… let's go home."

* * *

 **Daedalus Crater**

* * *

Djibril stood in the command center of Daedalus Crater, smiling as cameras were pointed at him and Yuna. That Heavy Raider had saved their lives and now it was all going to end.

He had lost the war. He knew that: any idiot would figure THAT out. As such, this action could only be called the ultimate act of spite.

Djibril didn't care: he was leaving Sol. And ZAFT hadn't discovered the relays, either. Morgenstern's actions were key in that.

' _Shame that_ Pegasus _killed her._ '

"You're live in three." The cameraman mimed two and one before the red light turned on.

' _Showtime._ '

* * *

Talia blinked as the image of Lord Djibril, leader of LOGOS and Blue Cosmos, appeared on the screens. "What?! I thought-"

"You and the entire Earth Sphere, Arthur."

" _People of the Earth sphere and refugees of the Cyrannus System, I am Lord Djibril. I am hear to say a select few words. To the Colonial Fleet...I apologize. Your people were fooled by the gulles of the Coordinators. You fought and bled for unnatural monsters before you could be informed of their danger._ "

" _It is a shame, really._ " He continued, " _If you only saw the world as we did, perhaps the Earth Alliance and LOGOS could've helped you regain your worlds, and crushed the Cylons… but perhaps I can now show you how futile any efforts to 'save' the Coordinators are._ " He then smirked as he pulled out what looked like a type of detonator. " _And for the space monsters in the PLANT's… and to your beloved Chairman… I have a_ gift _for you, Durandal… a Requiem to you, and all of your kind!_ " And with that, he hit the switch.

Talia watched as a green light fired from the moon. It was a massive beam cannon of some kind. "What the fuck? He can't hit ANYTHING from that-" The beam reached a point, then BENT.

"Oh, SHIT. Geschmeidig Panzer! TRACE THE COURSE OF THAT BEAM!"

* * *

On Galactica, orders and reports were chaotically exchanged. "The beam is on course for another relay point, Admiral!"

Adama glared at the map of the Earth Sphere on the DRADIS screen. "Djibril's targeting the PLANTs." He said, "He can't nuke them, so he has to do this."

"By the Gods, how could we've missed something like _this?_ " Tigh asked, "Isn't there anything we can do to stop this?!"

"We can't do anything. Inform the President, and find me the location of that beam cannon!"

"Yes, Admiral!"

* * *

 **Near the PLANTs**

* * *

The shuttle was no Raptor, so getting to _Hel_ was going to be long. Thankfully, BSG-62 was in the area: Lee preferred to keep _Pegasus_ close to the PLANTs.

"I, uh, I've never been on a Colonial ship before." Meer said, sitting next to Jaden in the cockpit "Durandal never let me out of his sight."

"They're odd, both advance and primitive at the same time." Jaden said, "They've got all sorts of technical systems, and yet the overall design reminds someone of more 21st century naval ships in a way… not surprising considering they looked _backwards_ in technology to fight the Cylons. If they can get over their paranoia of computers, they can make some _very_ scary things."

"I… see… " Meer said, "So have you ever… seen one of those Cylons?"

"Uhhh… y-yeah..." Jaden said, a bit nervously. "Both the mechanical and… organic models."

"Those humanoid ones?" Meer asked, "What are they like?"

"Well… uhh..." Jaden began, as he silently cursed Ron and his ambrosa. However they were interrupted when he saw some kind of flash of light in the distance. "What the fuck is that?"

Meer's gaze turned towards a green line.

Heading straight towards the PLANTs.

"Uh..." "I can see it, Meer!" The line was a beam. A beam that was going to hit dozens of PLANTs.

And there was nothing anyone could do to stop it. The beam hit through the stabilizers of eight colonies before the angle cut through the inhabited sections of the PLANTs.

Over 4 million people were going to die.

"Holy shit..." Jaden muttered, as Meer's eyes widened in shock. "What the fuck… WHAT THE FUCK JUST HAPPENED?!"

Jaden didn't get an answer of course, though the Comm's did snap online. " _Unidentified shuttle, this is Viper 148, callsign Showcase from the Battlestar_ Pegasus. _Care to explain what the frak just happened to the PLANTs?!_ "

"Showcase, this is Jaden Takeo." He said, "I have no fucking clue what just happened. But I'm going to find out."

* * *

 **Daedalus Crater**

* * *

"HAHAHAHAHAHA! IT's done! Azrael failed thanks to the Colonial Fleet, but now millions of monsters are dead!"

Djibril smiled. "Prepare the fleet." He said, as he walked out of the control room. "We're leaving. But we will return. The Earth will be cleansed. We must leave quickly - it will only be a matter of time before the Colonials bear down upon us, as will ZAFT."

"Yes, Lord Djibril." Yuna said nodding as he followed him. "This will be only a taste of what is to come when we return."

* * *

Durandal was PISSED.

Even the capture of Kara Thrace wasn't enough to make up for this. "I want every ship we have organized and sent to that base!" "Sir, that will take time: we've got over 600 ships scattered throughout the Earth Sphere-" "Then deploy the new fleet we have back at Armory One! I want that weapon taken out!"

The 'new fleet', built in secret during the two year lull, was made up of new ships based more on the Eternal: the Lycoris and Cooke-Classes.

The Lycoris was closer in form to the Eternal, but lighter armed then the Cooke, as it was a light cruiser. ZAFT's first, in fact.

The Cooke, on the other hand, was a heavy cruiser, but more accurately labelled a battlecruiser due to her light armor and heavy armament.

And they would be joining 300 more ships to assault that base.

* * *

"Over 20,000,000 people dead..." Jaden said, as he stood on the bridge of the Battlestar _Pegasus_ after having regrouped with him. "How. the HELL did we MISS THIS THNG?! WHERE DID IT COME FROM?!"

Shaw pulled out a map of an area on Luna. "The beam came from Daedalus Crater, and we sent two Ravens to make a recon sweep." She pointed at a large 'hatch'. "That appears to be the beam cannon. CSS thought it was a warship hangar. The Charlemagne made them think their theory was correct."

Lee glowered at her, but she DID have a point. "We didn't know anything about this until now. My father's waiting for President Roslin to draft a response to the attack before we do anything."

"Don't bother, sir." The doors to CIC opened before Ron walked in, looking absolutely livid. "President Roslin and Admiral Adama are, in a word, PISSED. Battlestar Groups 18, 41, 48, 62 and 75 are to attack Daedalus Crater at 0500 hours Lunar Standard Time."

"And they're not alone." Jaden announced, catching their attention. "I'm calling all hands on deck with the Junk Guild… I'm getting every ship and soldier we have in space to take that thing out… and I'm also deploying the _Avenger II_."

"Orb will be joining us as well. Most of the Space Defense Force is being outfit with FTL drives as I speak. This will be the first fleet operation we've had since the fall. Admiral Adama will be in command, and we're being given a blank cheque. ALL weapons are authorized for use."

Everything. Nukes, heavy weapons.

Adama wanted revenge.

He would get it. "Head back to _Hel_ , Colonel. we're going to need her firepower."

"Homura's been looking forward to it, sir. Djibril's going to pay for this."

ron left CIC, his footfalls being uncharacteristically heavy. "He's pissed."

"Not only was this the biggest loss of life since the Fall, those people are the closest thing he's got to family: he's genetically engineered himself."

Shaw flinched. "Not something I want to think about."

"He's not the only one." Jaden growled, as he turned around. "Those were people of ZAFT… people I use to protect, people I _should've_ protect… that bastard is going to _burn_ for what he did today. All games end today."

* * *

The grief-stricken crew of the _Minerva_ were now filled with vengeance as their battleship was positioned on the Mass Driver in Victoria to be sent back up into space to join the fleet in attacking Requiem. They were not alone, for ZAFT was calling forth all of its assets to attack the moon from across the sphere. They didn't care if the Colonials were present either - for the time being, they _all_ had one common enemy: LOGOS and Djibril must DIE.

The new fleet in orbit would be the key to the victory.

Although Talia was rather annoyed that the only people that bothered to TRY and follow that damn treaty were the Orb Union.

"Well, it seems everyone's been ignoring the Treaty of Junius. OMNI Enforcer pissed in the wind, we didn't bother! Hell, the Colonials didn't even sign it!" Talia's crew ignored their captain as the ship was sent down the launch ramp. This was the end of the war.

The attack would begin at 0500 hours as soon as they were all in formation.

And then the Colonials and ZAFT would be allies, hopefully.

* * *

 **Daedalus Crater**

* * *

Djibril sat in the newly refit command center of the baseship, which was fit with new displays so they could watch the battle that was to come.

The _Girty Lue_ , 4 _Nelson_ -Class battleships, two _Elizabeth_ -Class battleships, three _Avenger_ -class light cruisers, twenty or so _Cornelius_ -class supply ships, the _Charlemagne_ -class Battleships _Akhenaten_ and _Ramses_ and the two _Archangel_ -Class carriers _Seraphim_ and _Cherubim_ were refit with FTL drives. They would join the baseship when they escape the Earth Sphere.

They could leave whenever they wished. The ships were all hiding under a specially designed hangar which housed the Baseship, which hid the Baseship and its escorts from the prying eyes of the Colonials or ZAFT. The much larger fleet outside that protected Requiem was nothing more than a smoke screen, to make ZAFT and the Colonials believe that was all LOGOS had to offer, as they commit all of their forces into that spot in the Crater.

But just when they think they've won, they shall emerge from the hangar, strike a blow at the enemy fleet, and then escape from the solar system, they and their most loyal followers within these vessels.

"It's starting. 654 ZAFT ships are approaching the base." "Seems the only people who bothered to follow the treaty were the Colonials. Ironic, seeing as they never signed it!"

Yuna chuckled at Djibril's poor joke. It WAS true, though. "So, when shall we...reveal ourselves?"

"The moment the Victoria is destroyed, they will release a thermal and radar-jamming cloud." Djibril said, "And once that happens..." Djibril smiled. "Well, we have 150 Raiders and enough nukes to destroy half the ZAFT fleet. I plan to use some of them on kamikaze runs on ZAFT warships. No point in using them on the Colonials: those Vipers are too good at shooting them down. But a fair flurry of nukes and beam cannons will give them a bloody nose before we escape. It's all just a matter of time now."

He looked at one of the bridge officers "Have the marked Raiders loaded with the explosives, and nuclear weapons." He informed, "Once the doors open, we must move quickly."

"Aye, sir."

* * *

 **ZAFT battleship** _ **Minerva**_

* * *

"HOW MANY OF THOSE DAMN SHIPS DID THEY BUILD?!"

The _Minerva_ and the _Fortuna_ had to dodge fire from no fewer than FOUR _Charlemagne_ -Class battleships while the _Ur_ and the _Patagonia_ had to deal with two MORE.

That didn't include the _Charlemagne_ herself, nor the _Mentuhotep_ and the _Henry_.

"Reduce pitch 23 degrees! Tell the _Fortuna_ to break off!"

Massive shells slammed into the _Sneferu_ , forcing her back to break as she broke in half. Talia's eyes widened as she looked for the source. "Minerva, _this is the Battlestar_ Hel. _Need a hand?_ "

While officially ZAFT and the Colonials were still enemies… but at the moment, Talia - and the rest of the fleet - shouldn't be picky who their allies should be in this fight. "We welcome it, _Hel_." She informed, "Synchronizing IFF codes, mark all Colonial contacts as Friendly for the duration of the battle."

"Yes, ma'am. IFF codes for Battlestar Groups 18, 42, 48, 62 and 75 have been marked as friendly." Talia paled. "FIVE battlestar groups?" And Seventy Five's flagship was Galactica.

'Ignore that: focus on the battle!' The Minerva's guns fired on a Avenger-Class cruiser, impacting the engines and sending it drifting into the line of fire from the Dominion's Gottfrieds.

"We're approaching the cannon array, ma'am!" The Minerva rocked from multiple near-misses, forcing Malik to stop the entire ship. "Report!" "Uh...you're not going to like it!" "REPORT!"

"Five Destroy mobile weapons Ma'am!" the officer reported.

"SHIT!" She shouted as she hit the comm, "Shinn, Rey! Focus your attack on the Destroys! They'll rip the fleet apart if we don't take them out ASAP!"

* * *

Shinn was at home again. Vipers and Raptors were fighting enemy Mobile Suits, and he was flying alongside them.

A 600cm shell impacted the head of the lead destroy unit, but it continued to function. "Minerva! _These things aren't manned!_ "

"What? HOW?!" He stabbed the machine with the antiship sword before cleaving through it and causing the reactor to breach.

" _That looked like the brain of a Cylon centurion! Where the hell did they get the specs for a Cylon's brain?!_ "

 _Galactica's_ guns vanquished another Destroy before Shinn began to notice something.

The Vipers were being drawn away from the capital ship fight.

" _Galactica_ , this is Orphan." Shinn said, transmitting on the COlonial channel he knew. "It looks like the EA are trying to draw your Vipers away."

" _We've noticed, Orphan, question is why-_ "

At that moment however, a large portion of the lunar surface suddenly erupted with dust shooting into the air. Shinn looked, and watched as several EA vessels began to rise up from the large opening, including more _Archangel_ and _Charlemagne_ -Class ships… but also emerging, much to his and the Colonials horror… was a Cylon modern Baseship, flying EA colors, launching waves of Raiders and missiles.

" _WHAT THE HELL?! Where the frak did that baseship come from?!_ "

'Well, that explains where the Cylon computers came from.' The Raiders were heading straight for the _Athena_ and the _Psyche_ , two of the Minerva's sisters.

And while they were not Mobile Suits, Raiders were too small and agile for accurate MS weapons fire. After all, the nukes fired at the PLANTs were the size of ICBMs, and those took _three_ shots to hit.

Vipers were a _fifth_ that size. Raiders, a _tenth_.

40mm fire hit two Raiders, but they were too close to not avoid hitting the _Athena_ , as they impacted against the hull, sparking two nuclear detonations which took out both vessels, along with anyone else who was nearby.

" _THE RAIDERS ARE LOADED WITH NUKES TO KAMIKAZE RUNS!_ " Shinn shouted in realization, " _Focus on the damn Raiders! NOW!_ "

Bullets - no one was risking a nuclear fireball with beam weapons - flew in EVERY direction, from Colonial Darts to ZAFT GINNs that had been pressed into action and their carriers themselves. The Colonials, meanwhile, had OTHER problems.

With their Vipers out of position, the baseship was clear to fire every missile it had on them.

And most of them were nuclear, so anti-ship cannon fire was out of the question. Flak exploded around the battlestars, added to more accurate CIWS fire from their support ships.

But that wasn't the worst part, as Shinn was about to witness.

The LOGOS vessels rose up from out of the crater, before an audio message was sent on all frequencies. " _With this, I say adieu Colonial scum, and you pathetic space monsters!_ " Djibril shouted tauntingly, " _One day we will return, and we will cleanse the Earth from your scourge once and for all!_ " and with that, each one of the LOGOS vessels winked out of existence… in FTL jumps.

Shinn was in shock. Blue Cosmos. Had FTL DRIVES.

They had a CYLON BASESHIP.

"YOU BASTARDS! YOU LYING BASTARDS!" Shinn wasn't sure who yelled over the wireless, but he wasn't the one.

"YOU'RE JUST THE ALLIANCE IN ANOTHER SKIN!"

"Come on, let's get these bastards! All surviving mobile suits, ATTACK!"

The Vipers ran on full afterburner to get to their carriers as Shinn shook his head at how STUPID his fellows could be.

"Stop! They're not OMNI Enforcer!" His pleas were ignored in favor of irrational anger, but the Colonials would not bear the brunt of their attack.

The smaller ships began to jump away, followed by Junk Guild and Orb vessels before Hel disappeared in a flash of light.

Shinn's heart nearly broke when _Galactica_ retracted her pods and jumped away.

* * *

Meer Campbell was PERFECT for doing Lacus' job of soothing the people's anger.

Too bad she disappeared shortly before that beam killed 20 million people. 'Lacus Clyne' was among the assumed dead.

Durandal was going to have a hard time doing damage control on THIS one.

But the council didn't care about that. They were busy trying to find a way OUT of this debacle without getting themselves killed.

The only way they saw THAT happening was, frankly, a vote of no confidence and impeachment.

Thankfully though, Durandal had a secret weapon up his sleeves. One that would hopefully solidify his power, and unit the PLANT's after his debacle. It was actually rather fortunate that Djibril escaped alive, many were coming to the rather… _illogical_ conclusion that the Colonials gave them the Jump tech, which he fully planned to use.

While he believed it was a bit rushed… it was either now or never to announce the Destiny Plan.

* * *

"Where the hell did that baseship come from, Admiral?"

Adama took off his glasses before setting them on the plotting table. "Madam President, the baseship was repaired and modified, but our Cylon allies have informed us that that baseship was Cavil's command vessel during the Cylon Civil War." He said, "It's likely that their FTL drives malfunctioned and sent them here."

The handset in his aged hands did little to reduce the President's rage. "What I want to know, Bill, is how the frak we missed it! That thing was the size of Galactica: you can't just HIDE something like that!"

"Coming from the same people who were hiding an entire fleet of Battlestars, dreadnoughts and support ships a few months ago?" Jaden asked, "ZAFT was able to hide GENESIS for nearly two years, the EA managed to hide the _Archangel_ and the G-Weapons at Heliopolis for almost just as long… obviously it _is_ possible… LOGOS obviously had to go through some extreme lengths to keep something like that secret from the rest of the Earth Sphere."

"It doesn't matter. What does matter is that the war is over. Durandal should be standing down his forces soon. He can't be suicidal enough to attack our forces here at Sol."

" _considering he tried to vaporize my ship and BSG, I think he's a special kind of crazy, Admiral_." Same shit, different man.

Gilbert Durandal was just another freaking Patrick Zala, sans genocidal bullshit ranting.

"Maintain Condition One for all Colonial units. And prep all of our forces to jump to Earth. We're going to need them."

"I'm going to contact Terminal." Jaden said, "When Durandal _does_ make a statement, I believe we now have the perfect way to show the world how much of a lying silver-tongued bastard he is."

* * *

 **Ron the True Fan: Ah, Destiny. Such promise, only to be betrayed by budget cuts.**

 **117Jorn: Then its a good thing we have Fanfiction :D**

 **Ron the True Fan: The next chapter is the end! The Battle of Requiem! The Battle of MESSIAH! MAY THE DEATH BEGIN!**

 **Ja Ne!**


	12. Chapter 11: No Fate But What we Make

**Chapter 12: No Fate But What we Make**

* * *

The Earth Sphere had seen too much war in too short a time. That was something Laura Roslin had realized long ago when they got to Earth.

But she hoped that was over now.

"Madam President, there's a transmission on all wireless bands. You're going to want to hear it." The President of the 12 colonies nodded sadly at her new aide. "Alright Tory. Put it on."

* * *

"People of the PLANT's, and to the world." Durandal began, sitting in the center of the MESSIAH control center. "The war, is over. Requiem - the weapon LOGOS had used to kill tens of millions of people has been captured by our forces, and Djibril has been forced to run from the Earth Sphere entirely. Though he may have escaped, we _will_ hunt him down, and bring proper justice to the people who caused this great tragedy upon us all."

"The world must change for the better. We cannot afford to fight among ourselves any longer, and there is only one way to do that."

Durandal stood up. "We must unite! You have seen the destruction caused by LOGOS and their Colonial allies, the slaughter Admiral Adama caused to the Coordinator people during the war. So we need a new way of thinking, a new way of living. A new plan."

"The Destiny Plan. A world where everyone knows their place, what they can do and what they can't do! No more groping around, searching for a purpose! With it we-"

At that moment however, all of the T.V screens within the Earth Sphere turned to static, before a new person's image appeared. " _People of the Earth Sphere… please, listen to me._ " A soft, feminine voice spoke up, belonging to none other than Lacus Clyne… the _real_ Lacus Clyne.

' _...oh fuck..._ '

* * *

"I know that many of you are stricken with grief," Lacus said before the news cameras the Junk Guild had set up. "That the attacks LOGOS committed against us are far worse than the Bloody Valentine… but this is no reason to bring blame to the Colonials! The same people who fought to _defend_ the PLANT's in the battle of Jachin Due, despite the fact that due to ZAFT they themselves lost many of their own people."

"I know that many of you may idolize the Chairman… but this… Destiny Plan is proof that he has never been fully honest with us." She said, before she glanced to the side where Meer Campbell stood outside the Camera's view, looking _extremely_ nervous. Lacus gave her a comforting smile, nodding her forward. Meer hesitated for a moment, but Jaden gave her a pat on the back nodding.

Meer gulped, but nodded as well as she stepped into view. "And there is no better evidence… that with this brave woman here." Lacus said, as she stepped forward.

"H-Hello… everyone..." Meer said, "My… my name is Meer Campbell… ever since this war began I… I have been impersonating Lacus Clyne. Before I… well, looked like _this_ , I didn't have a career… my voice… sounded so much like Lacus's voice, no one wanted me… but the Chairman asked me to take Lacus's role, to calm the people of the PLANT's during this war… but he never told me that, when I woke up from the surgeries and drugs involved during the transformation process… I would wake up nearly three years later… nor did he tell me how he attempted to have the real Lacus assassinated by ZAFT Special Forces."

"I… I didn't want this!" She said louder, "I… I just wanted to help people… since Lacus was missing… I didn't want… all of this to happen… I… I can't even begin to… to express how… sorry I am for the deception… but because of what Durandal did to me… the surgeries are now… permanent… I can never look like… like my old self ever again now..."

"Miss Campbell was tricked into thinking she was doing the right thing." Lacus said nodding, "She was used, conditioned. Durandal's goals are sickening if he's willing to use people in the same way Blue Cosmos abused the Extendeds. I implore all of you...don't listen to him any longer! His Destiny Plan means surrendering free will, independence of thought! He wants to turn all of humanity into machines!" Her lips turned into a scowl. "Into Cylons, for lack of a better word."

"With his destiny plan, nothing would ever change." Jaden said as he stepped into view. "Life would become meaningless, your future planned before you, no hope for any form of change. Would it stop war? Possibly, but at what cost? At the cost of what makes us who we are - _human_ \- regardless of whatever your genes are, coordinator or natural, we are all still human. Might there be wars in the future? Most likely, but from those conflicts we will learn lessons, lessons that ensure that we won't make those same mistakes again for as long as we live, so we can further better ourselves."

"...my name is Jaden Takeo-Glenn." He said, "My Father was George Glenn… and I can tell you all right now, that Durandal's destiny plan is _not_ what my Father had envisioned when he founded the PLANT's. So we all ask you, people of the Earth Sphere… if you can see it in your hearts, realizing what his destiny plan truly entails… stand _against_ Durandal, so together… we can all be free! So we can all be human!"

* * *

Durandal was livid. He had been CLOSE. SO CLOSE!

But he still had Requiem. If the Colonials were eliminated, the Junk guild's leader would have nothing to back him up.

"Inform the personnel at Daedalus to power up that beam cannon. Their target is Ptolemaeus Crater!"

* * *

 **Battlestar Mercury - Ptolemaeus Crater - November 19th, Cosmic Era 73**

* * *

Battlestar Group 60 hovered guarding the Colonial base on the moon, preventing any attack on Ptolemaeus.

Any CONVENTIONAL attack, anyways. "Admiral, DRADIS is picking up a massive energy surge coming our way!"

"Activate the Umbrella!" Lee shouted, "Here's hoping the Junk Guild got it working!"

In a few moments, a white barrier of light surrounded the entirety of Ptolemaeus, as the Requiem beam slammed into the lightwave barrier, causing a large power drain to the shield's systems, however regardless they still held until the beam itself dissipated, and the shields overheated, but having done its job.

Durandal had made his last mistake.

"Inform the President."

* * *

"This is something I will NOT tolerate! We've been nice enough to the PLANTs: they've had enough suffering to last a lifetime!" Roslin was a nice, kind teacherly woman, forced to take on the role of President by a quirk of fate. Bur Durandal had pushed the one button he should not have pushed.

He attacked her people. NO ONE attacked her people and got away with it.

Sure, she would have ordered a retreat from Sol had the attack succeeded.

And ordered one hell of a nuclear retaliation when her remaining people were safe and sound.

" _Well, lucky for us that Durandal REALLY fucked up._ " Jaden informed on the comm. " _Our transmission showed the entire world just how much of a manipulative bastard he is, whatever support he use to have is dwindling - and fast. It looks like the few who are still_ stupid _enough to believe this hogwash is rallying at Requiem and that giant-ass space station Durandal just moved into lunar orbit._ "

"The survivors from Daedalus are regrouping near Ptolemaeus Crater. The Charlemagne and over 240 OMNI Enforcer warships will be joining the attack."

"As will Orb. The entire Space Force is en route now." The nations of Earth were gathering to two sides: the fools that supported Durandal's social/genetic engineering plan, and those who would fight for the freedom of all humanity.

"Admiral Adama. Take command of the combined fleet. Make Durandal pay."

* * *

 **ZAFT Battleship Minerva**

* * *

Talia had had enough. The insanity ended NOW.

Most of the crew agreed with her: Rey was the Chairman's pet, and no one cared what he thought.

Fortunitally, Rey had been called off of the _Minerva_ to be onboard the giant station - MESSIAH. She recalled that being the station that she was told Starbuck was being held at. "Are the encryptions ready?" She asked the comm officer.

"Yes Ma'am." She responded, "Its an older Colonial encryption I learned while I was in the foreign legion. ZAFT shouldn't be able to trace it, but the Colonials should have an easy time picking it up."

"Good." She said nodding, "Make sure the Ship ID codes are there, so they know who's with us, and whose against us. Also attach the following message: Starbuck is on MESSIAH."

"Yes, Captain." " _All ships, this is Chairman Durandal: we have one final battle ahead of us. Our foe is the greatest we have ever known. Greater then the Earth alliance, greater then the Cylons._ "

" _Your target is the Colonial Naval Defense Force! Make your people proud! sink the unsinkable Battlestar_ Galactica! _Banish the Nightmare of ZAFT once and for all!_ "

"Oh, someone's going to sink, Gilbert. And it won't be Galactica."

* * *

 **Battlestar Galactica**

* * *

Saul Tigh was an asshole.

He was a drunk.

But he was DAMN good at what he did. Three Marines followed him into the brig, where six children were waiting.

Sven Cal Bayang, Shams Couza, Mudie Holcroft, Auel Neider, Sting Oakley and Stella Loussier sat in three different cells in the brig, waiting for the day the Colonials were going to execute them.

The hatch opened and in the bald man came. "You sorry fraks just lucked out." He said.

"What are you talking about?" Mudie said rolling her eyes. "You're gonna give us a painless death or something?"

"No. You're being released. As long as you're willing to fight." "Fight? Fight who?" "We're goin' up against a bunch of ZAFT ships. Takin' Durandal out. So, if you want in, stand the frak up. Otherwise, when this ship explodes in a fireball, you can fry in here. But if not, that's fine. Put your feet up. Relax and wait for the end and all that good stuff."

"So… our options are to either go down fighting the people we were created to stop… or die in here." Shams said, as he shrugged. "Fuck it, I'm in."

Tigh smiled as the other five slowly got to their feet. "Preflight briefing's in 20 minutes. Get cleaned up."

He still had it.

* * *

 **LCAM-X01A Archangel**

* * *

Murrue was not expecting THIS. A massive fleet of Colonial ships were in formation with the Orb Defense Fleet: over 80 Battlestars, 240 larger warships, thousands of Vipers and other strike craft.

All under the command of one man.

During the battle, Adama would be in command of the fleet, with Vice Admiral Zeus Avalonia and Vice Admiral Kira Yamato (and wasn't HE surprised when he got the eight-rank promotion) taking direct orders from Adama.

The Archangel was a member of the Fourth Attack Wing, which was made up of BSGs 62 and 75, meaning they would be taking a lot of punishment.

" _This is the Admiral: Spool the jump drives if you have them._ " Adama ordered. " _We jump at 1200 hours._ "

"Adama isn't pulling any punches..." Mu said, as he watched the fleet move into formation.

"This is it. We take Durandal out or we die trying. Every ship in the fleet's being fit with an FTL drive and the computer to use it."

"So, we're splitting into five attack groups, three of which are attacking those relay points while the other two take on that Requiem thing and that big station? Sounds crazy." "This is what they do. You'd better get to the Strike."

"That I should!"

* * *

Athrun stared at the two Mobile Suits. ORB-01 Akatsuki and ZGMF-X19A Infinite Justice.

He didn't want to pilot the latter, but he was.

Because Cagalli was going to pilot the former.

"I know that look," Cagalli said as she steped towards Athrun, fully clad in her flight suit. "I know your worried Athrun, but we'll be fine."

"I...I'm not so sure."

"We survived Jachin Due, we can survive this."

"We only survived because the Colonials showed up and-" Athrun stopped himself.

Cagalli put a hand on his shoulder. "Don't worry." She said, "We had two battlestars on our side there. Now we've got a fleet of them facing down another madman. I don't think there's any way we can LOSE."

"That's not what I'm worried about… not entirely at least..." Athrun said, shaking his head. "Its just… after all of this, after we finish this fight… where do we go from here?"

"I know how you feel. Personally, I want you to come back to Orb with me. With the Seirans and their stupidity gone, there's nothing to worry about."

" _All personnel, board your machines. Jump in 15 minutes. Repeat, all pilots, to your machines: jump in 15 minutes._ "

"Well… point of no return now." Cagalli said, "See you on the other side, Athrun."

"Yeah… you too." Athrun said, as the two began to walk towards their machines, though Athrun paused for a moment before he grabbed Cagalli, suprising her for a moment before he kissed her. It caught her off guard, but she didn't protest at all.

"Good luck."

"Y-Yeah… you too..."

In the Strike Freedom, Kira smiled. Now he had the opportunity to play overprotective brother.

* * *

Zero Hour

* * *

Talia had ordered the Tannhauser to be charged up as they prepared for combat. Their first targets would be the number of light cruisers and Nazca destroyers in front of them.

"Sensor contacts! Colonial, OMNI Enforcer and Orb vessels just appeared!"

"It's time. Arthur?"

"Rodger." He said, "Readjusting targeting arc to enemy forces. Sending the word to allied units, preparing to fire Tannhauser."

The hatch opened, revealing the weapon it all its' destructive glory.

'Ut fortunae favet insipientibus.' "FIRE TANNHAUSER!"

* * *

The fireball that was twenty-two ZAFT Lycoris and Cooke-Class warships was large enough to be seen for miles, and it was the signal to launch.

"All Mobile Suit teams, get out there!"

" _Green light! Green light to engage!_ "

" _Begin jump!_ "

The EA, Orb and Junk Guild vessels began their advance as they accelerated towards the crater and MESSIAH, while the Colonial ships activated their jump drives, appearing in the thick of the combat zone.

" _Cry Havoc! And let slip the dogs of war!_ " Jaden shouted, as he launched from out of the _Avenger II_ in the GuAIZ Experimental.

Hundreds of Vipers accelerated towards the enemy fleet, escorted by GAT-03 Colonial Gladius, GAT-04J Colonial Marine Windams (most of which looked NOTHING like their base machine) and CDF-01s and 02s.

All of them were armed with ASM-14H missiles. And they were going to use them.

In the cockpit of his own MS, Will and his team headed towards a group of ZAFT ZAKU Warriors, Phantoms, led by three GOUFs.

"Alright boys! Let'em have it!" he said, as the former 'Druggies' sped ahead and straight toward the ZAFT Mobile Suits.

"YOU'RE TERMINATED!" Clotho shouted firing his Raider's MJOLNIR morningstar at one of the GOUFs, nailing it in the chest.

"Kat, Fox 4-2!" A Titanomachy left the center pylon of Kat's Mk VII, heading for a GOUF, which had no time to dodge before the missile impacted and obliterated it. "Ok, all Vipers, break and attack! You know the drill!"

A _Lycoris_ -Class cruiser fired on _Pegasus_ as the massive battlestar beared down on her, firing her forward KEW-1H cannons at the tiny ZAFT warship. The _Eternal's_ child took two shots before it was turned into a flaming wreck, which the _Mercury_ -Class ship simply rammed into, most of the paper thin armor crumpling on impact with the mighty Winged Horse. The port side engine pod went through one of _Pegasus'_ flight pods before the rear guns destroyed the wreck, allowing the battlestar to continue, unfazed by the impact.

Will destroyed another ZAKU Phantom before continuing on. He then spotted a target of opportunity, which was a _Nazca_ -class being distracted by an OMNI Enforcer _Nelson_ -class. Hitting the pedal to the metal, the Gladius went straight toward the Nazca, which is still currently unaware of the threat approaching them, until it was too late, and the former E.A. mobile suit drew it's beam saber before slamming it into the bridge of the ZAFT destroyer.

30mm cannon fire tore into a ZAKU's joints before the machine fell apart from the fire of six Vipers tearing it apart, before it drifted into the path of 225cm plasma beams fired by the _Archangel_ , destroying it.

"Come on, you bastards! Let's go!" A Dart carrying an Orion pack hacked a GOUF in half, but it suffered as massed fire destroyed it in a massive ball of fire.

"You get a shot! And you get a shot!" Jaden shouted, as he had his GuAIZ's full arsenal out as he fired shot after shot at the ZAFT mobile suits and ships, aiming to disable if possible, but he knew he couldn't save everyone. "And you-oi! fuck off!" A ZAKU tried to hack his legs off, but Jaden quickly activated his beam sabers as he deflected the Axe strike, before slicing off the ZAKU's arms. "Now go home! Don't throw your life away here!"

A pair of Avenger-Class cruisers and an Elizabeth-Class battleship fired on a Cooke-Class battlecruiser, turning it into a flaming hulk in a few salvos, leaving it to drift.

"This is the EAS Avenger to Junk Guild Mobile Suit: we're going up against that Minerva-Class ship at Indigo 23! We could use some suppor-"

Beams tore into the prototype cruiser, tearing it apart. Jaden knew THAT attack all too well. DRAGOONs.

"Oh son of a bitch, the kid..." Jaden said rolling his eyes as he accelerated towards the sight of the fighting. "Kira! Ron! Might need your help in a bit!"

"I'm on my way, Commander!" "Admiral Adama's ordered me to escort Galactica to that station. Starbuck's there, and he wants his pilot back."

That was probably what Durandal was counting on. Adama's loyalties to his people could be exploited.

* * *

MESSIAH

* * *

A ZAFT marine walked into the cellblock, where the lone prisoner sat in her cell. "So, Captain, your buddies are coming to break you out." He racked the bolt of his rifle, taking aim at Starbuck. "Too bad you'll be dead by the time they get here."

"Well, maybe you should've done that _outside_ the cell, idiot." Starbuck said, as she kicked the gun out of the Coordinator's grasp, before he punched him in the jaw, knocking him out.

"Seriously… they say your suppose to be smarter than average humans." She said, as she took the weapon and its ammo, before locking the ZAFT marine in the cell. "Morons..."

Starbuck thought about the differences between Colonial genetically engineered people and Terran Coordinators.

If that was Colonel Pinkerton, he would've just shot her. But the Marine opened the cell and gloated. Genetic engineering made Coordinators arrogant and overconfident, probably because they were told they were better from birth.

'Ok, hijack a bird, get back to Galactica. Easy.'

* * *

"FTL drives are spooled! Coordinates input!" Adama scowled as he stared at the DRADIS. Galactica was going to jump inside MESSIAH's beam shield and cause as much damage as they could before jumping out. In the meantime, Raptor teams would board the station and find Starbuck.

"Execute jump!"

The Galactica jumped away, jumping inside the station's hangar. In the sights of a large number of beam cannons and railguns.

"Let's drop some lead on these Mother-"

"FIRE!"

The _Galactica_ proceeded to unleash a hellstorm of weapons fire in all directions, firing everything in its arsenal in a never-ending barrage of flames from nukes, beam weapons and missiles, as the interior of the hangar was reduced into molten slag as the legendary battlestar carpet bombed the interior.

The flight pods extended, allowing a flight of Raptors to leave galactica to perform their mission while the remaining defensive weapons fired on _Galactica_ , pounding the battlestar's hull armor like a blacksmith drawing out a sword.

* * *

"WHY WILL THAT BATTLESTAR NOT DIE?!" Durandal screamed as he watched _Galactica_ take a beating and just give it right back. It was like a cockroach, only WORSE.

"Sir, we're picking up a broadband transmission from the PLANTs."

Durandal smiled, thinking that reinforcements were coming from the homeland.

He didn't know how wrong he was.

" _This is Eleiza Joule of the PLANT Supreme Council._ " She said, " _Chairman Durandal's actions are not the will of the people of the Coordinator people. To sacrifice freedom of choice is to sacrifice our humanity. In a vote of no confidence, he has been voted out of office, and anyone taking orders from him is obeying illegal commands. All ZAFT forces are ordered to stand down and return to the PLANTs._ "

"...FOR THE LOVE OF-"

* * *

"And the Dominos fall." Jaden said with a chuckle as he heard the announcement. Already one could see ZAFT vessels one by one pulling out of the fight, or turning their guns on MESSIAH and any other ZAFT ships that continued to rally behind the Chairman. "Now the Chairman and his fanatics are surrounded by enemies on all sides."

" _You haven't won yet, Takeo! The Chairman will win this battle, and humanity will change for the better_!"

"What the hell are you TALKING about, Rey?! This is stagnation! Cultures and peoples that stagnate and don't change die out!" Rey sent the majority of the DRAGOONs at Shinn and Luna, who did their best ro avoid the remote weapons.

" _You're blind if you can't see that the Destiny PLan is the only way humanity can survive!_ "

"Survive? Perhaps." Jaden said, "Live? No. What is the point of living if you already know your future? What is the point of living if every step is planned out for you? Who you'd marry, what your job is, how you'll die. That is not living… its an evolutionary dead end, one which assumes the world will never change… though the Colonials are proof that is not the case, that everything can change when we least expect it. And I refuse to let Durandal bring all of humanity down with him with his delusions, for he is just as insane as Rau Le Creuset!" With that, Jaden used the opertunity to move in on Rey, who was totally fixated on Shinn and Luna, as he fired off his weapons. Rey dodged, however only to have his left arm cut off by Jaden's beam saber.

"This isn't over!" "Oh, it's over, fraktard!" Beams impacted the Legend's beam shield as the X01 Dart, fit with the Perfect-inspired Pahlawan Pack, closed in after jumping from MESSIAH. "You idiots need to learn a few fraking lessons about common sense!"

* * *

Starbuck was unbelievably glad to see the old girl's hulking form, but winced as she saw damage to the rear section.

'Damn it, the FTLs were knocked out again.' "Galactica, _Raptor 148: we've got Starbuck. We're on our way back." "Confirmed, Racetrack, but our jump drives are offline._ "

"Do we have anything on _Galactica_ I can fly?" Starbuck asked.

"No, all of the Vipers, Raptors and Darts are in combat," The pilot said, "All we've got left onboard is that machine we captured when we first showed up at Earth."

Starbuck thought about it for a moment as she recalled what he was talking about. "Wait… you mean the Providence?" She asked. "Can it fly?"

"My buddy in the CCE says they fixed and upgraded the cockpit, but they can't figure out how the DRAGOON's… oh you have got to be kidding me Starbuck!"

"We need every bird in the air. Put us down and I'll get that monster into the fight!"

* * *

ZGMF-X13A2 Providence Kai was the renamed repair of the old X13A. Fit with two extra railguns based on the Freedom's, as well as those shoulder cannons and a proper left arm and one hell of a lightening operation, the machine was ready for combat.

Of course, the Chief had problems with that thing. The DRAGOON's were still giving them trouble, since according to Jaden only one of those 'Newtypes' could properly use them.

"Chief!" He turned around as he saw Starbuck walk over to him. "She can fly, right?"

"Nice to see you too, Captain. It'll fly, but those DRAGOON things-" "Leave it to me, Chief: as long as it can do SOMETHING, I'm good with it." She grabbed onto the zipline and climbed into the Gundam-class MS, but before sitting down, she noticed a modified holoband on the seat. She smirked.

"Colonel, you are a BADASS." She didn't need any fancy Newtype bullshit. Good old Colonial tech would let her use those remote weapons.

* * *

"Come on, come on..." Jaden muttered as he flew the GuAIZ through the interior of MESSIAH, with Rey not to far behind. He had done some damage to the ZAFT machine, but he had recieved some damage himself - one of the wings of his machine was blown to hell, his left leg was gone and his right shoulder was in pieces. "Follow me in here, buddy… lose the advantage those DRAGOON's give ya..."

Jaden had become separated from the others a short while back (A number of GuAIZ Rs had zerg rushed the five) and had just reentered the main hangar, seeing the battered and undying form of the _Galactica_.

Jaden blanched when he saw that the armor was nearly peeling off the hull, and that the FTLs were offline yet again.

" _When you die, Takeo, it will be the crowning moment of Gil's victory over the Colonials!_ "

"Please, as if your going to win at all." Jaden said, as he stuck towards the walls. "ZAFT has turned its back on you and Durandal, the _entire world_ is fighting against your forsaken Destiny Plan! You're just delaying your inevitable destruction at this point Rey, and when that happens I'm going to make sure ZAFT will _never_ make the same mistakes you, Rau Le Creuset, Durandal and Patrick made ever again."

"The world will rally behind us again! Once neo GENESIS fires, the world will join us!" "Not on my watch, asshole!" Beams impacted the Legend, removing the other arm. "WHAT?!"

Jaden found the source of the spam and begrudgingly smiled.

The Providence had joined the fight. " _Hey, asshole! I owe you fraks for shooting me down over Orb!_ "

"He's all yours, Starbuck!" He said, "But be careful - Legend was suppose to be the Providence's successor afterall. And you can't use-" he stopped when she saw her launch off several DRAGOON's. "Wait, the fuck?"

" _Never frak with the CCE!_ " The DRAGOONs began to swarm the Legend, cutting off the ones he had deployed. "You're not a Newtype! How the hell can you-"

"I don't need to be a fancy fraking newtype! I just need to think!" She pulled out a long barreled beam rifle and opened fire on the Legend, destroying the thrusters as the Impulse, Akatsuki and the other machines arrived.

"So, Rey..." Jaden said, as they all aimed their machines at the Legend. "Any last words before we fuck your shit up more than Michael Bays fucked up the Transformer franchise?"

" _You haven't won!_ "

"Jaden, I vote we just shoot him. Everyone?" The Destiny, Impulse and Akatsuki all pointed their beam rifles at the Legend.

"Can't we just...capture him?"

"No, admiral Yamato. Better yet...Bill!"

Adama's voice was loud and short. "JUST DO IT!"

"FIRE EVERYTHING!" Jaden shouted, before everyone within the hangar fired every missile, beam weapon, machine gun or head vulcan at the Legend in a stream of death.

Rey screamed before the Legend exploded in a ball of fire as the Strike Freedom's beam rifle hit the reactor, temporarily blinding them with nuclear light.

"SWEET APHRODITE!"

" _Starbuck, get back to_ Galactica! _Everyone else, with me: it's time we had a chat with Durandal._ "

"I've been waiting for this for a LONG time." Jaden muttered as he moved to land his damaged machine.

* * *

 **Meanwhile - with Duradal**

* * *

"Knock Knock, Avon calling!"

The doors to the control center burst open, as Ron stepped inside, with Jaden, Shinn and the others not to far behind him.

Durandal sat in the ruined command center. "Colonel Pinkerton. Jaden Takeo. Kira Yamato. Athrun Zala. How the mighty have fallen."

"Oh, go frak yourself." Ron said. "You lost. Gilbert Durandal, under the authority invested to me by the PLANT Supreme Council and the Office of the President of the 12 Colonies of Kobol, you are under arrest."

"Not yet, it isn't." Durandal said, "I _am_ surprised that you are willing to work with someone like Kira Yamato… considering what he _really_ is."

"Excuse me? Unless he's one of the Final Five Cylons we've never seen, I don't think any of us CARE."

"He's not a Cylon… but one could say he's the embodiment of what is wrong with our world." Durandal said, "The Ultimate Coordinator… born from an Iron womb to become the perfect coordinator who did not suffer the same issues as 3rd Gen coordinators… created to be perfect in every shape and form. "

Jaden and Ron glanced at Kira before the latter shrugged. "So? Colonial genetic engineering experiments were a lot more fraked up. Some people just had no morals."

Durandal couldn't believe this. The Colonial didn't even CARE? "Colonel, he's the product of illegal research."

"You want to get technical, so are you." Ron said shrugging, "So's Jaden, Shinn, Mr. Zala, Habu over there. I don't care. They're people. That's what matters."

"That's what Blue Cosmos, Zala and you just keep forgetting." Jaden said, as he pulled out his pistol. "Just because someone's born just a bit differently, doesn't make them any less of a person. We're all free thinking being in this galaxy… and you would have us all enslaved or destroyed to a doomed plan..."

Durandal sighed, shaking his head. "All of this has happened before," he said, "All of this will happen again."

A gunshot sounded off before Durandal slumped in his seat. Jaden and Kira stared at Ron, whose G36K has a small amount of smoke drifting out of the barrel. "Why did-"

"He had no right to say those words. None at all."

"WHAT words?"

"The first words of the Pythian scroll." He said, "The story of the cycle of time."

Jaden blinked "Wait… how the hell did Durandal know that?" he asked, "You didn't share what were in the Scrolls with anyone except the Guild, didn't you?"

"No. No one even has an interest in our religion." The station began to shake. "The station's falling apart: the nukes and the damage we did are causing a million different kinds of hell! LET'S MOVE!"

"Running Time!" Jaden shouted as they ran from the control room, heading back towards the hangar.

* * *

Outside the station, MESSIAH was exploding from the inside out due to internal nuclear detonations. Six contacts appeared on the DRADIS screens of multiple Colonial craft, all of them Mobile Suits.

"Freedom, this is Eternal: where is Galactica?"

"Her FTLs are offline; they're trying to get them back!"

Lacus flinched as MESSIAH exploded, with no sign of _Galactica_. ' _Come on, where are they..._ '

There was another massive explosion near where the Neo-GENESIS was located, followed by a massive secondary explosion, were from out of the blast emerged _Galactica_ in a blaze of glory, dented and burned, but still in one functioning piece. This was soon followed by cheers of victory across all Colonial channels.

"...HOW does that ship survive this shit?!" A large section of armor plating just fell off the port side, followed by an explosion on the bow, but the alligator-shaped warship was more or less fine.

but this was another nail in the poor ship's coffin.

* * *

 **December 23rd, CE 73**

* * *

Dozens of Colonial, ZAFT, Orb and reunified OMNI Enforcer warships hovered near the PLANTs, with one ship playing host to peace once again.

 _Galactica_ was an emblem more then anything right now, and emblems were needed. The Earth Alliance was busy trying to get itself back together, ZAFT was purging the radicals and the Junk Guild...

Well, they were helping Ron design a refit Mk VII Viper.

All in all though, things were finally looking up once more for the Earth Sphere. However everyone knew that soon, they were going to chase after Djibril - somewhere, out in the galaxy. But now that they were combined, all with the same goals, it seemed as if life would return to normal… or so they thought.

"Looks like your friend failed." Cavil said to Eos, who shook his head.

"He acted to brash," he said shaking his head, "He allowed his emotions to get the best of him, and underestimated the Colonials, moving his plan far too quickly ahead."

"What now?" Cavil asked.

"We continue to prepare." Eos informed, "The _Acidalium_ shall play as our… envoy, they shall ensure the Earth Sphere that we of Mars with to remain isolated, and continue trade of the materials needed for N-Jammer Cancellers for as long as they are needed."

"They don't know what's really happening though?" THe Cylon asked, as Eos chuckled as he shook his head.

"Not at all," he said. "I sent them towards the Earth Sphere long before your people arrived… they have not been informed about the Cylon's involvement to our plan… not that it will matter. When zero hour comes, none of it will matter as we correct all of the wrongs and cleans the solar system of those who deny evolution's course."

"And end the Colonials once and for all."

* * *

 **Ron the True Fan: We've ventured off the known path. Here, there be dragons!**

 **117Jorn: The Bloody Valentine Wars are over… but the Third Cylon War is about to begin.**

 **Ron the True Fan: Stay tuned. Prepare for war.**

 **Ja Ne!**


	13. Chapter 12: Fire and Chrome

**Chapter 13: Fire and Chrome**

* * *

 **May 10th C.E 74**

* * *

Five Months. It had been five months since the Battle of Messiah and the end of the second - and final - Bloody Valentine War. The Earth Sphere was finally at peace, with Blue Cosmos all but gone, the Radicals within ZAFT effectively purged, and the Colonials were returning back to the Cyrannus System, their fleet returning home to rebuild their worlds with the help of the Junk Guild's Nanomachines to purge the radiation from the worlds, and make them habitable for humans once more.

Most of the Colonial fleet and the CCE had already returned home, with the sole exception being BS-75 _Galactica_ and her battle group. After the war, the aging battlestar was still in poor shape even after _months_ in drydock. Her new armor had deteriorated, and the Colonials didn't want to risk such a long-range jump with _Galactica_ , for the strain on the hull may very well break her back completely.

Thankfully, the Junk Guild didn't mind to help with keeping _Galactica_ breathing a little while longer, pulling every trick they had up their sleeves to keep her afloat. Though for the most part, _Galactica_ was mostly just performing anti-piracy operations, and mopping up any Radicals of ZAFT or remnants of Blue Cosmos that escaped the purges. Understandably, pirate activity had dropped _considerably_ when the word got out that _Galactica_ was on the hunt, even if she was considered outdated by now.

Even her Vipers were on chopping block for decommissioning. With the new and advance Dart's and Ramumesa's, along with the development of the Mark VIIE Vipers, the older Mark-II, III and VII were quickly being replaced, and _Galactica_ was selected to hold all of these fighters in reserve. Thankfully these fighters - while old - were more than enough to handle pirates and other ragtag groups within the Earth Sphere, with Dart support of course.

While the Colonials did their thing, the Earth Alliance - or rather the 'New' Earth Alliance - was getting back onto its feet, with LOGOS purged from every dark corner they could find, the former nations of the EA were able to reform the Alliance to become what it was originally intended to be - an organization to represent _all_ of earth and humanity, regardless if they were natural, coordinator or Colonial even. They were already asking for the neutral nations like Scandinavia, the EU and Orb to join, and even offered the Colonials and ZAFT to become part - the latter three though were still considering it.

Speaking of ZAFT, with Durandal ousted, the ZAFT Supreme Council wished to elect Jaden into office as the next chairman… though Jaden didn't exactly wish to leave the Junk Guild behind just yet. Instead, Lacus Clyne took his place in that role, but Lacus still asked for Jaden to be something of an Advisor to her. While she was good in political matters, Jaden was clearly more experienced when it came to issues involving national defense. For the most part though, ZAFT was on the route to recovery, especially after the massive loss of life during the Requium firing. While they were buffing up their military, this was more of a secondary objective, with most resources committed to reconstruction.

For the Junk Guild though, most of their attention was focused on _Galactica_ and the Viper VIIE's production. However, Jaden looked down at the shipyards, and smiled as he saw the additional ships in construction surrounding _Galactica_. "Ron was right… it _is_ a supreme case of irony." He said.

The vessels in question were the first Battlestars built within the Earth Sphere, and owned between the Junk Guild and the CCE: The _Columbia_ -class Battlestars _Columbia II_ , _Acropolis_ , _Pacifica_ , and _Rycon_.While construction on the _Pacifica_ and _Rycon_ was delayed a bit, the _Columbia II_ and _Acropolis,_ were nearly complete, and would soon replace older _Galactica_ -type Battlestars in a supreme case of irony.

 _Galactica_ was the first battlestar built, but not the first one _designed_.

That honor fell to the _Columbia_ -Class: a paper design that was never constructed due to design issues which Jaden solved during his drinking binge three years before. It was replaced by a more capable warship class. That just so happened to be the 75th capital ship built from the Scorpia Defense Force's shipyards: _Galactica_.

In the meantime, the Colonials had begun construction on the _Galactica's_ replacement as flagship of the fleet and the replacement of the _Mercury_ -Class: BS-157 _Polaris_.

The ship was safely hidden at Jupiter, and as construction on the ship started three weeks after the Battle of MESSIAH (and a full two days before the _Columbia's_ keel was laid, much to the displeasure of the Junk Guild) _Polaris_ would be the first battlestar built since the fall of the Colonies.

 _Columbia_ and her sisters would take the title of first to be completed, however, as _Polaris_ was a different monster compared to the _Columbias_. Other then a few modifications, the ships were the same as they were designed back on Caprica when the Cylons were starting to show that they were on the way to rebelling.

 _Polaris_ might've looked like a modified _Mercury_ , but it was a GREATLY different monster: the only thing the two classes shared was a chassis.

"I never understood why you loved ships so much until now." Meer said, walking next to Jaden, wearing the uniform of the Junk Guild. "I never thought I'd have so much fun with all of this!" After her big reveal, Meer decided to… temporarily retire from her singing career, mostly to stay with the Junk Guild for a bit with Jaden, mostly so they could catch up on lost time. Surprisingly though, Meer proved to be a naturally gifted engineer, coming up with several ideas which would be involved in later JG mobile suits. Even Ron was starting to take note.

"Its like a form of art in a way," Jaden said shrugging, "Building something from almost nothing, or improving something old to make it new. Though for some I guess it could be considered an aquired taste for this kind of work." He chuckled a bit as he lightly nudged her "'Sides, ya look cute when you've got greese on you, Meer."

He chuckled as he looked back at the _Columbus_ , missing Meer's blushing face. She still had the hair and face of Lacus - unfortunately Durandal's surgery was permanent, and not even the Colonials had the capabilities to change her back to her normal self without causing severe damage to her face. Not that Meer - or Jaden - seemed to mind to much (she liked having pink hair). She may still look like Lacus, but she was her own person again - she was Meer Campbell, Engineer in-training and retired singer, not a tool of Durandal's 'Destiny Plan'.

In fact, some of her ideas were used to keep _Galactica_ alive. Even the CCE's commander, Zeus Avalonia, complimented her idea and added it to the 'book of secrets', as he jokingly called it.

"It's a shame." Jaden said as he sighed, "Most of the Fleet's being put in mothballs as soon as newer ships can replace them, right?"

An unfortunate truth. Orb had been gifted all but five _Orion_ -Class ships, and as soon as more _Polaris_ and _Columbia_ -Class ships were on the line, over 50 battlestars were going to be sold to Orb, including the _Universal_ and _Pegasus_.

Sure, they were being replaced with ships like _Hel_ (which had undergone a major refit to add beam weapons) but it was a sour note to Jaden. He _did_ hear there were some talks between the New Earth Alliance and the Colonials to buy some of the Mothballed Battlestars for OMNI Enforcer, and similar talks involving ZAFT, though once again it was still very up in the air, though the odds _were_ in their favor now that both the NEA and ZAFT had cool, smart heads on their shoulders now.

"Well, they're just getting Mothballed - not scrapped." Meer said "That counts for something at least… I kinda don't' like it when you scrap such good ships, especially ones with so much history like _Galactica_ , or that one naval ship from the 21st century… _Enterprise_ , right?"

"Yeah. Admiral Adama should be on board Galactica right now: might as well ask if we can buy a few of them off the Colonials, right?"

* * *

 **Battlestar Galactica**

* * *

Admiral William Adama was currently doing something he thought he would never do.

Being a godsdamn salesman.

"So, the Alliance and ZAFT are making offers for ships out the ass. We're going to make a fraking fortune out of this, Bill." Tigh's comments were not for himself, but for the Colonies.

It would take trillions of cubits to begin reconstruction of the Colonies, and they had a surplus of military hardware that was going to be useless to them in the near future. The CCE were busy designing a new subtype of the _Valkyrie_ to replace the _Orion_ , and they still had dozens of battlestar frames waiting to be built.

So, the most ideal way to make some money for rebuilding the Colonies - and for further expansion of the Colonial Military - Adama had decided to agree to the proposal. The Colonials would rearm ZAFT, OMNI and Orb, selling them with their mass-produced warships like the ones found at Delta Canopis, and after some time, full-scale Battlestars from their mothballed lists like the _Galactica, Mercury, Valkyrie,_ and _Orion_ -classes so long as the NEA, ZAFT and Orb prove they can behave now.

The former would be lend-lease (the ships were Colonial property) while the battlestars would be outright sold.

"Hell of a way to earn cubits. Scorpia's already working on rebuilding the yards and making them an orbital ring, like that movie Takeo showed us...what was it called?"

"Starship Troopers." "That one, yeah."

Adama put out a sigh before turning his attention to the next order of business.

"The New Earth Alliance is launching a new ship today, and the President wants Galactica there to show our support."

Tigh scoffed at the name. The 'new' was bullshit: the government was the same, why bother tacking a new onto it?

"What, that successor to the Charlemagne? What was its' name, again, Bill?"

"EAS _Schwarzkopf_ ," Adama said, "First class of a new line of Dreadnoughts… will admit its interesting at the very least. Even Ron seemed a bit impressed by how they got it working."

"They needed something to make the _Charlemagne_ look small and to take on _Galactica_ properly."

Adama took off his glasses to wipe them clean. "How long until the ship's ready for a jump back home?"

"Weeks. The CCE and the Junk Guild've been workin' their asses off to get this old bucket back home, but I think the only thing we can do is...well..."

"Turn her back into a museum. That's still too dangerous: the ship's too old and the hull's deteriorating with all the punishment we're putting her through." The old man stood up. "Inform the commander of the _Schwartzkopf_ that we'll be there on time for their commissioning. Probably best to show a united front for all sides."

* * *

 **Mars Sphere**

* * *

"Are we certain that this is the right course of action?" Cavil asked as he and Eos walked down the hallway of the Martian Base.

"Yes." Eos said, "We have the element of surprise now, and we are as strong as we can possibly be now with the ships you have procured from 242 Apollid, combined with your current forces, the Martian military, and the Librarian Works. The stage has been set, and the pieces are on the board."

"We're taking an awful risk here, Eos." Cavil warned, "This had better work."

"It will work." A new voice said, coming from a man with blonde hair who walked up behind them. "My forces are already in position for the first phase. All other combat-ready forces have been prepared as well."

Eos nodded, "Very well, Prayer Reverie." He said, "Have your forces prepare to attack when zero hour arrives."

"They will be. Earth is not ready for us."

* * *

 **Lagrange point one - OMNI Enforcer shipyard**

* * *

A long warship hung in a large gantry, nearly the size of Galactica.

The EAS _Schwartzkopf_ was designed to truly take on Galactica, and anything that would make the Colonials build something like her. And at the moment, the _Archangel, Minerva_ and _Galactica_ were attending her commissioning ceremony as the ship was loaded with Mobile Suits and Mobile Armors of all kinds.

"Well, give them an A for effort with how they gave it gravity." Jaden said, as they looked at the _Schwartzkopf_ 's rotating section near the front, generating a sense of artificial gravity. "Its inventive… hell, _we'd_ probably of tried something like that."

While the Colonials had given them FTL technology, they still hadn't given them gravity tech. Orb and the Junk Guild were the only exceptions, as they were actually allies.

The Cylon rebels, on the other hand, were working with ZAFT to build a baseship-like warship that they had named the _Archelon_ , which looked like a massive war-era baseship.

" _The wars are all over, but we still must prepare to defend ourselves from the Cylons and from the forces under Djibril's command. May this ship, and her sisters, continue to defend the Earth Sphere for all time! EAS_ Schwartzkopf, _LAUNCH!_ "

The NEA dreadnought moved out of the spacedock, as its rotating section activated as gravity was generated inside.

"Sir, I am picking something on DRADIS." Gaeta reported.

"What is it?" Tigh asked.

"I'm… not sure." He replied, "I though it was a MS in Mirage Colloid… wait, its gone now."

"A Mobile Suit with an FTL drive equipped with Mirage Colloid?" The only people that had THAT combination were the Colonials, and the CDF-01XS Stealth Dart wasn't even in the testing phase yet.

"Probably. Put the ship into Condition Two. Prep our birds for anti-MS and anti-ship combat. Just in case."

Another blip appeared on DRADIS. "I've got another one. Warship, this time. Roughly the size of the _Archangel_ -Class."

"Identification?"

"Its… unknown, sir. Its nothing from the Earth Sphere, and its not Cylon." He said, "Its giving off some odd… wait, Frak! Energy spike! Its firing energy weapons!"

"Action Stations! Set Condition One throughout the ship!"

* * *

Starbuck hopped into her new Mk VIIE Viper, which was shoved into the weathered and beaten launch tube, and was launched as soon as was humanly possible. "What do we got?!"

"Unknown warship, just fired on the Schwartzkopf. Engage enemy Mobile Suits and destroy."

Starbuck smirked, as _Galactica_ had the element of surprise: the _Schwartzkopf_ put out so much heat that _Galactica_ was practically hidden from the enemy ship's heat sensors. They were in for one hell of a surprise when _Galactica_ came out of hiding.

 _Galactica_ moved as an arc of yellow energy passed overhead, impacting against the space docks causing severe damage as the _Schwartzkopf_ headed out. The _Archangel_ and _Minerva_ were mobilizing as well moving to support the NEA Dreadnought. "Galactica _Actual - once we open fire, we will try to disable their-_ " However just as Adama spoke, another pair of yellow beams shot forward, as they impacted against _Galactica's_ starboard flight pod.

"Frak, they've got DRADIS! All units, engage!"

Mk II and III Vipers formed up with Darts and Ramusesas, targeting any and all enemy Mobile Suits. "Galactica, Starbuck: we got six enemy robos inbound!" "You are clear to fire. Weapons free!"

The Colonial ace fired a single ASM-14H, which accelerated to top speed and destroyed the enemy machine in 4.8 seconds. ' _Well, they're easy enough to destroy._ ' She thought as she picked out her next target, ' _So what are these guys aliens or-?_ ' She fired her next Titanomachy missile at the next contact, and waited for 4.8 seconds...only for the target to vanish in a flash of light as the missile passed by where it once was.

"Wait, THE FUCK?!" Starbuck shouted, before a stream of bullets passed near her canopy as the same machine popped into existence right behind her.

"Galactica, Starbuck!" The Viper flipped around and fired her dorsal RCS thrusters to get out of the enemy machine's saber swipe. "Bastards have FTL drives! Repeat, bastards have FTL drives!"

THAT made the titanomachia useless. Even the unholy offspring of the Chromebasher didn't have an FTL drive. So it was back to basics. She opened fire with the 30mm cannons, the shells hitting the narrow joints and separating the left arm from the joint.

" _Where the hell did they get FTL drives?!_ "

"Well, the tech isn't THAT much of a secret after Blue Cosmos showed off that Baseship!" Jaden shouted as he flew his Ramumesa in Fighter mode, firing off a swarm of missiles which cut down several enemy mobile suits. "They even posted the specs on the web just to spite the Colonials really."

Galactica and Schwartzkopf opened fire with their massive number of weapons, targeting the enemy warship. The Schwartzkopf's beam cannons impacted a cloud of anti-beam smoke, while Galactica's guns fell short. Jaden groaned as he knew why: the Galactica's reactors were nearly broken, and barely supplying enough power to run the ship let alone fight.

* * *

On board the Liberian Works warship, her captain flinched as a 600cm shell exploded just short of the _Arcadia_. " _THAT was far too close._ Galactica's _bracketing us: they're zeroing in on us!_ "

The Captain meerly sighed, "We must continue the distraction until we receive the signal." He said, "Prepare FTL Drive for Micro-Jump - put us behind their ships, and prepare the main gun."

The prototype ship's FTL drives quickly spooled before the ship jumped behind the Galactica and Schwartzkopf's defensive barrier, targeting the shipyard before firing on the dockyards, melting and exploding the yard.

A 600cm shell impacted the ship's rear end, but it did not destroy the battleship. A sign Galactica needed more work as the Arcadia jumped away.

* * *

Adama was not happy. His ship was starting to fail him. "Recall our birds." "Aye, sir."

The DRADIS beeped out a warning as another ship jumped in, quickly IDed as a Colonial courier Raptor. "This is Raptor C45 to Galactica, repeat, this is Raptor C45!"

" _Galactica_ here, what is it Raptor C45?" Tigh asked.

" _The moon is under heavy assault! A bunch of ships just popped in from FTL and are taking over one lunar base after another!_ " The courier said.

Adama groaned. "Spool up our FTL drives. Jump us to Ptolemaeus. And get Commander Takeo on board: I want our reactors at full power. I want my weapons back at full." He would not abandon his ship.

* * *

Tyrol guided Vipers and Raptors back into the hangar deck before Jaden's Ramusesa entered the bay. "Commander! Welcome back."

"Less talking more workin!" Jaden shouted as he jumped out of the Ramumesa, "With Ron back at Cyrannus, its _my_ job to keep this old girl floating till he gets back! I'm heading for the reactor!"

"I can get you a guide-"

"I know this ship just as well as Ron does!" Jaden shouted as he dived into an air duct. "This is quicker!"

Tyrol chuckled. "Big man taught the kid way too well."

* * *

 _Galactica's_ cabling had been replaced five times, so it wasn't the transfer ducts. Wearing a heavy-duty radiation suit, Jaden dunked his hands into highly radioactive deuterium to find out what the hell was going on with the main reactor.

"Why the hell did they have to use nuclear power?" He muttered. Had offered to replace _Galactica's_ reactors with helium-3 based ones, but the heavily shielded nuclear fusion reactors (which kept out the effects of the N-Jammers) were kept in as Galactica was being decommissioned. "Not only is it better, but it's safer! Zero Radiation, and its practically infinite in power when you do it right!"

The lights kicked in, and Jaden pulled his hands out of the irradiated water. The radiation-eating nanites were something he was going to welcome when he got to the airlock. Radiation poisoning was not something he was looking forward to.

"Takeo here! Reactor is good to go again!" He said as he entered the airlock, "And I once again insist that we scrap the damn reactor down here for a Helium-3 one! No one likes radiation poisoning!"

"When we've got the time, Commander. FTLs are spooling up and weapons are back at full power. Whatever you did worked."

"Yeah, well, next time, get Ron back here to do this. What the hell's he doing, anyways?"

Gaeta's chuckle was clearly heard, if muted. "Busy rebuilding Scorpion Fleet Shipyards and setting up a few orbital elevators."

"Glad he took my idea from Starship Trooper." Jaden said, as the nanites purged the radiation from the airlock around him. "Been planning something similar for here on earth… though more for unlimited solar energy, ease of orbital access and wireless energy transferance… had that plan shelved."

" _Why's that?_ "

"Because for it to of worked, everyone in the damn world would have had to work together and cooperate." He said, before the lights turned green allowing him to remove the rad suit. "As you could tell, last few years that was nigh impossible."

" _Yeah, until the Cylons made them work together. FTLs are spooled. Jumping in ten seconds._ "

* * *

The Orb dreadnought Tenryu, a Galactica-sized copy of a Sobek-Class battlestar, fired on a red-painted warship that vaguely looked like an orthocone from Earth's oceans.

Cagalli was NOT in the mood for this. The ship had just been commissioned three days earlier, and she had ceremoniously taken command of the ship for a shakedown, but now she had to deal with a bunch of invading assholes!

"Do we have any idea who these people are?" Cagalli asked, as she looked at the screens where Adama, Jaden, Lacus, Kira, and several NEA reps were displayed.

" _So far, we've got nothing._ " Jaden said, " _But whoever they are, they came here with one hell of a force. They're starting to overrun Luna, and by our best estimates they'll reach Ptolemaeus within 24 hours. They have access to DRADIS and FTL capabilities, and can perform tactical Micro-jumps both for their ships, and mobile suits._ "

" _The_ Charlemagne _and_ Montuhotep _are making a fighting retreat from Daedalus, heading straight here._ " Adama said, " _We should count ourselves lucky that the Colonials nuked those relay points into atoms. The Requiem array is the last thing I want to deal with._ " While technically under Earth Alliance control, it was mostly manned by Colonial personnel since the war.

And they had the idea of keeping it around. Colonel Tigh called it 'Ron's condom rule'. Better to have it and not need it then the other way around.

" _Thankfully without the Relays Requiem is useless._ " Jaden said. " _But whoever these people are, they aren't fucking around. The attack on the_ Schwarzkopf's _launch was a diversion to keep_ Galactica, Archangel _and_ Minerva _away from the moon. The real question though is what their ultimate goal is, and just who they're working for._ "

The new DRADIS array on the Tenryu beeped as a new contact appeared. It was an Orb-built Raptor, which the colonials called the Mk IV.

Cagalli preferred the Orb name and model number of OMA-108 Nobusuma.

" _This is Raptor 687, assigned to Battlestar_ Hel _contacting Admiral Adama! Sir, Commander Adama sent me to inform you of a serious problem!_ "

" _What is it, son?_ "

" _Scorpia is under massed Cylon attack! The entire Cyrannus system is under siege!_ "

"WHAT?!" Adama shouted.

" _Yes sir! They-they just came out of nowhere!_ " The raptor pilot said, " _Frak, I think there's more of them now than were their during the fall! Pinkerton sent me to warn you and the Earth Sphere sir! The Cylons are back!_ "

And they couldn't go anywhere thanks to Galactica's hull troubles.

* * *

 **Ron the True Fan: It has begun. The Third Cylon War and the Liberian War have begun.**

 **117Jorn: DUN DUN DUN DUN DUN!**

 **Patriot-112: Wrong series, Jorn.**

 **117Jorn: It's similar enough! Until next time everyone *Puts on sunglasses as eyes shine red underneath* We'll be back.**

 **Ja Ne!**


	14. Chapter 13: Fire and Chrome part 2

**Chapter 14: Fire and Chrome, part two**

* * *

 **May 10th C.E 74, Cyrannus System, Scorpia, Scorpion Fleet Shipyards**

* * *

 ****The massive block of metal was only 40% complete, but it was enough to play home to BSG-62. The orbital tether wasn't ready to take people up to the yard, either, but that wasn't stopping Ron from using a low-atmospheric lift to continue work on the new yards.

"Colonel, this is Scorpia yards: we're picking something up on DRADIS."

"Like what? the array isn't even working properly yet."

A faint explosion caught Ron's eye before he spotted the cause: a Cylon Raider. Heading right for the lift he was in. "Oh, for the fraking love of Izanagi and Zeus!" The Raider fired its' 30mm cannons at the lift, breaching the inch-thick glass.

* * *

 **Sol System, Battlestar Galactica**

* * *

A trio of the only operational Mk II Vipers left in existence fired a Titanomachy apiece at enemy Mobile suits while the leader of the Colonial 1st Tactical MS Squadron was a little more worried about his own people.

"Okay, what the hell is going on?" Will said, at the gathered group of MS pilots, "And don't tell me it's about Clotho's gaming habits... _again_ ,"

"Bunch of assholes are shootin' at everything that moves! We're the last ones that need to launch!" The battlestar shook once more from something hitting the hull, forcing them to wince. Galactica was beginning to fail, but she didn't want to.

"Good answer!" Will as he placed his helmet on, and went over to his mobile suit, "Mount up!"

The Extendeds boarded their Mobile Suits as the machines were moved to an airlock and eventually raised to the flight pod launchers.

"You sure _Galactica's_ not going to just explode? I mean, that's what those Junk Guild guys are sayin'."

"That thing's taken a lot of nukes before and it's still moving and kicking ass," said Will, "And that was _before_ it got the reinforced covering." The lead Mobile Suits of the 1st TMSS launched without any hiccups, joining the other 20 currently engaged in battle with the currently unidentified enemy.

The Gladius fired on one of the enemy machines, which disappeared in a flash only normally associated with an FTL jump. "Oh, COME ON! They've got jump drives?!"

" _Whoever these guys are, they're pretty damn crafty!_ " Jaden shouted as his Ramumesa flew by, chasing down several fighter-like craft in fighter mode. " _They've got FTL and DRADIS tech… though I find it awfully convenient that these asshats decided to attack right when the Cylons decided to attack the Cyrannus System._ "

"Yeah, too convenient!" A Mobile suit jumped just into Will's line of fire before he drew a beam saber and hacked in in half at the waist, noticing that the machine was slightly smaller then most Terran and Colonial Mobile Suits. It also lacked that Cylon style common to Centurions and Raiders. These assholes weren't Cylons, but they couldn't be allies, either: there was no one that could help the Cylons.

" _I'm still trying to figure out their damn A-Game._ " Jaden said, transforming to MS mode as he fired the gatling gun pod, blasting the craft to smithereens before he began shooting down several missiles aimed at _Galactica_. " _They attacked the_ Schwarzkopf's _launch, but that was a distraction for the lunar assault, but what do they gain out of this? Sure the moon is important, but it would've made more sense to attack the PLANT's or Earth itself._ "

Multiple FTL flashes signalled the arrival of Galactica's battle group, led by the _Amaterasu_ and the _Brimir_. "Galactica, Amaterasu _Actual: we're getting reports all over the system of unknown ships attacking Junk guild and OMNI Enforcer assets, as well as a large-scale attack on the PLANTs. President Roslin has boarded Colonial One and is en route to the evac point: we're abandoning Ptolemaeus crater._ "

Abandoning Ptolemaeus. That place had served as de facto Colonial capital since they got it, and now they were being pushed out?

"All units are heading for Copernicus to regroup, sir, but ZAFT's taking a beating at the PLANTs, and Miss Clyne's WONDERFUL military leadership skills are costing more lives that could've been saved!" A universal truth was that Lacus was no soldier. She led the Three Ships Alliance at Jachin due before Admiral Adama took de facto command of the allies, and she was the rallying point for the Battles of Requiem and MESSIAH, but in both cases, Admiral Adama was in command.

She was a incorruptible politician and a figurehead, nothing more. You want military leadership, you run to Adama or someone else that wasn't Lacus Clyne.

Just...don't say that in front of someone like, well, a recently turned from pacifist to ultimate badass pilot named Kira Yamato. Say what you want about the guy, he may be a pansy, but when it comes to his girls, better get the hell out of the way.

That didn't prevent it from being TRUE.

"Battlestar Group Seventy-Five, set course directly for Copernicus. We'll regroup and commence our counterattack once we've linked up with the Alliance forces. These bastards are going to regret showing up here. All units, eliminate all enemy units and return to Galactica to combat jump."

Acknowledgements were heard from all ships as the Vipers and Mobile Suits dealt with the rest of the Cylon forces, while the big ships dealt with the capital ships.

The surviving enemy ships jumped away, unwilling to engage two dreadnought-class warships and a pair of heavy cruisers. "Great, even the capital ships have jump drives. Where the hell did they get the fraking things?"

"Worry about that later," said Adama, "Right now, get us to Copernicus!"

* * *

The lights blinked as the Mobile Suits and Vipers were bought in for rearming. the Colonial knuckledraggers winced, knowing that this was a sign. The gods were hammering on the old girl's coffin, making it nice and snug for the aging battlestar.

"Frak, I thought Commander Takeo fixed the reactor! The lights shouldn't be flickering!"

"Even geniuses can make mistakes from time to time,"

"Maybe it's just Galactica's time. I mean, look at the shit we threw her into!"

The beating over Berlin, the atmospheric drop over Orb and the in-atmo battle that followed, MESSIAH's internal defenses and the one thing that no one could fight against.

Old age. Galactica was 60 years old. Most warships barely last 20 before they're retired.

Adama sighed sadly at that, "I think it's time the old girl retired for good after Copernicus," he said, "That, or have her go out in a blaze of glory."

"We've got a long war ahead of us, Bill. I think we're gonna be fighting for a long while." "I just hope Galactica can hold out that long." A groan was heard throughout the ship, signalling that Galactica was protesting everything happening to her.

"Hang on, old girl. Just a while longer."

* * *

75mm rounds were fed into the Gladius' head CIWS cannons as the ship's metal hull groaned as if in pain.

"I thought they fixed the hull issue three years ago." Clotho shrugged. "They replaced all the supports and stuff, but most of the big girl's still 60 years old, right?"

Shani nodded. Galactica had become their new home, and they weren't willing to let their new home die. Sure, they were still in the military, but these guys cared, unlike Azrael. "Yeah...?"

"Meaning the big girl's just showing her age. Maybe after the war, she'll get to go into retirement like all the older veterans. She deserves her rest."

Tyrol, who was busy loading the Gladius' guns, winced at the naivety of the pair. He wished he could've had that.

The Chief paused as he felt someone watching him. He slowly turned to see Stella just standing there behind him. Blinking. "GAH! Don't do that!"

She tilted her head to one side. "Do...what?"

"Don't sneak up behind people like that! What were you trying to do, give me a heart attack?!"

"...Heart attack?"

Tyrol's opinion of Stella had changed to that of 'Extended with issues' to 'retarded girl that can snap a man's neck on Admiral Adama's command with issues'.

THAT was a universal extended thing. It didn't matter if they were the kids from Lodonia or those three that stole the Armory one machines, they obeyed the Admiral because the man was the ultimate military authority. The highest ranking military officer they had to deal with in OMNI Enforcer was a rear admiral.

Adama was a FLEET Admiral. High as they can go.

"Just don't sneak up on me. Or anyone else."

Stella just blinked, before she shrugged in confusion before she walked away. "Why are the weird ones always the best pilots?" He muttered as he continued his work.

* * *

Adama studied the intel reports from across the system. ZAFT was getting their asses handed to them at the PLANTs, and OMNI Enforcer was in major need of organization, as they were confused and dazed from the opening attacks.

This eerily reminded him of the Fall of the Colonies.

'Not again. Never again.'

"Admiral," Jaden said, "I'm gonna have to head back to GENESIS Alpha, these assholes are hitting my people there hard, and I think we can all agree the last thing we want these assholes to have is a GENESIS. Plus I need to safeguard a… project of mine."

"Do it. OMNI Enforcer's sending the Schwartzkopf to the PLANTs to help take out those enemy ships. It would be helpful if we had a name for these bastards. Then we could stop calling them the enemy. How about the reactors? I need all of my guns working at something close to full power."

"Reactors are fine for now, but they're just another symptom of how much the old girl is aging." Jaden said shaking his head, "If we had time I'd upgrade them to H-3 Reactors to make things easier, but right now time isn't on our side."

"Then get to your machine and get back to that WMD you call your headquarters. We have a war to fight." Adama stared at the reports. "And I intend to win this one."

* * *

Cyrannus System

* * *

The Raider fired its' 30mm cannons at the lift, pleased that the occupant was about to die as the glass breached.

A thud was felt as the craft impacted something, and the Raider tried to figure it out.

It then felt its' interior access panel open, and the closest it could come to expressing the situation was 'oh, shit' as something shot its' brain, causing it to die before the brain was cut out and the intruder hijacked the Raider's body.

The Cylons should really learn not to screw with their grandpa: he knew them all too well.

* * *

The IBS-1 Interceptor fired her 600cm cannons at a large Cylon vessel, snapping one of the 'wings' off as a Raider closed in for a seeming landing.

The Interceptor was a new breed of battlestar, built from the remains of a pair of otherwise destroyed Galactica-Class ships, replacing one of the FTL drives with what the CCE called an 'interdictor drive', which prevented anything from jumping away. It also had 360 SIM-6D Archer missile/KEW-21C 75mm cannon turrets, one of which was shooting at the Raider hijacked by Ron after that Raider blew his lift apart.

"Interceptor, this is Psycho! STOP SHOOTING AT ME!"

" _Psycho?! What the hell are you doing-_ "

"Got blown out into space by this asshole!" Ron shouted, "Give me a Sitrep!"

" _Sir, we've got a LOT of Cylon contacts heading our way - DRADIS is lighting up like one of those Earth Christmas trees! A LOT of Baseships and a whole bunch of other ships!_ "

"Do you have any birds left?!" "Just a few Mk VIIEs, sir: we didn't even have a full load of Mobile Suits!"

"I'm coming in for a landing, so prep one of those birds with a full warload!"

* * *

The deckhands rushed to fit a Mk VIIE with hardpoints for 12 SIM-6C archers, six Titanomachy missiles and the massive DEW-1J 90mm beam gatling that fit under the fuselage.

That much firepower was more then a little intimidating to face. And it was all on one fighter.

The airlock to the hanger opened, and the Raider collapsed to the deck, topside meeting the deck as the hatch opened and Ron emerged. "Is that bird ready?!"

"She's fueled, armed and loaded in the tube!" The flight crewman said, "Hop on in and good hunting sir!"

Ron fixed a helmet to his head and jumped into the Mk VIIE's cockpit as the airlock sealed itself. "Been a damn-near eternity since I flew a Viper." "Psycho, shooter: navcon green, interval check. You're clear for launch." The tube decompressed and Ron was sent flying down the tube for the first time in over 30 years.

"Oh, Cylons?! GUESS WHO'S BACK!"

A rather sizable flight of Raiders flew towards the newcomer, and ron armed the DEW-1R beam autocannons on the Viper's wingtips. "You have no idea who you are fraking with." He pressed the center firing button, firing all three rapid-fire beam weapons.

The beam weapons cut through the Raiders like a hot knife through butter as they exploted into scrap metal. "Yeah! This is what we do-" He shouted before he saw a series of beams shoot past him. "OH FRAK! Watch you're-" He looked at the source, and it wasn't from another Colonial… instead, speeding towards him was a Mobile Suit which vaguely reminded him of a ZAFT ZGMF-515AS CGUE Assault, only it was spewing out DEW's and held a _beam saber_ in his free hand! Ron didn't need to be a genius to know what he was seeing.

The Cylons had Mobile Suits.

"All units, we have a problem! Cylon forces are equipped with Mobile Suits; all units equipped with Titanomachy missiles, USE THEM NOW!"

This was going to be a problem: the Colonials had only produced around 700 Mobile Suits, and most of them were being used in training squadrons.

The price you pay for having a 50 million cubit MS versus a one and a half million cubit strike fighter with a load of half-million cubit anti-MS missiles and the general prejudice against the Ramusesa, but nothing they could do about that now.

He armed a titanomachy and locked onto the CGUE, more then a little pissed off. "Frak you!" HE shouted as he fired the Titanomachy at the CGUE look-alike, as the missile sped towards the Mobile Suit, with no possible way it could dodge… until it popped out of existence in a flash, as the missile sped through where the MS was once before.

"Son of a monad whore! _Interceptor_ , is your interdictor drive online?!"

" _We haven't tested it, sir!_ "

"Major, you will activate that thing or we're going to suffer a LOT of deaths! the bastards have jump-capable Mobile Suits!" That shut the man up until the call went out. "Interceptor _to all units: activating interdictor field!_ "

The formally _Galactica_ -Class ship slowed to a damn-near stop, most of the power being diverted to the interdictor drive. But it was working, as Cylon Raiders and CGUEs attempted to jump, but only flashes of light happened without the machines disappearing. ' _double-edged sword, but I can live with that._ '

" _More Baseships coming in with escorts!_ " Five more Baseships popped into existence, escorted by several dozen smaller vessels of various design, yet each bearing the same basics of a Cylon vessel as they launched Raiders and Cylon Mobile Suits, opening fire on the Colonials as soon as they arrived. " _Godsdamnit they just keep coming!_ "

" _This is Rear Admiral Urei, all ships spool up your FTL drives and jump to Caprica: we're being overwhelmed on all fronts. Admiral Avalonia has ordered our forces to regroup at Caprica, and I'm not willing to lose Cyrannus again!_ "

600cm rounds impacted a baseship's center axis, shrapnel tearing into the Cylon warship as _Mercury_ and _Pegasus_ closed in. "We've got a few _Brimir_ -Class ships modified for atmospheric flight loading as many civilians on board as possible, so we've got to hold out!"

" _We'll cover them for as long as we can!_ " Sasha informed, " _I do NOT plan on losing the Cyrannus System TWICE! Pinkerton, once those ships are off the ground, I need you,_ Pegasus _and_ Interceptor _to head to Sol!_ "

"Sol?" Ron asked as he dodged several shots from a Raider. "Why the-"

" _Avalonia suspects this is just half of the enemy's strategy._ " She said, " _We sent a Raptor, but haven't heard back from them. Odds are Earth may very well be under Cylon attack as well._ "

And it made sense. The Cylons likely knew Earth's location, and while they had 23 refit Galactica-Class battlestars (coined the Interceptor-Class by Major Farron, thanks to those interdictor drives) only three had fully operational interdictors. "Ma'am, I'd like to get the interdictors on most of the new ships online before I head for Sol: we're going to need them." "They don't stop ships from jumping in, Colonel."

Ron smirked. "But they keep them from jumping out, which was the entire point." He said. "We can use them for defending Caprica until we've fully regrouped."

" _I'll send the idea to Avalonia,_ " Sasha said, " _You just get ready to head for Sol._ "

The Mk VIIE spun around and went straight for the Interceptor, which was going to need a serious retrofit after they got to Sol.

* * *

 **Picon orbit**

* * *

 _Kratos'_ spinal cannons fired twice on a Cylon _Jormung_ -Class assault ship, cracking it in half as the engines forced it to ram into a Fenrir-Class interceptor, destroying it.

The fight over Picon was not going well: dozens of baseships had jumped in and were causing a thousand kinds of hell with their new escorts. Raiders danced with Mk VIIE vipers and those new Mobile suits were causing problems, as one of the new _Maul_ -Class escorts was destroyed by the Cylon it was quickly avenged by a Squadron of Dart's that flew overhead.

"How much longer until the civilians are evaced?" The Admiral demanded.

"The Kronos and Furaes are spinning up their FTLs now. they'll jump into Caprica orbit before we do." Phillip wasn't exactly looking forward to this. Those 'interdictor' battlestars used war-era technology, and he had no idea how they would effect long-term FTL use after they were shut down.

"Last two carriers and transports are away, sir! Cylons are heading right for us, and I'm seeing a lot of nukes in the missiles they're firing at us!" "Jump the ship!"

* * *

Kratos appeared with her task force in Caprica orbit, surrounded by the entire surviving Colonial Fleet. Out of the original pre-Fall 5000-strong Fleet, not counting the independents, only 400 ships had survived, and 300 ships from Delta Canopis didn't make anyone feel safer.

"Status?" Philip asked.

"All ships accounted for, we're being informed to move into formation now."

"Good, get the Civilians planet-side and into shelters." He said, "We lost Picon… but we won't loose Caprica, not again."

"IBS-2 Blockade and IBS-3 Barricade are activating their interdictor fields, sir. If the Cylons think they can take Caprica, they'll have a hard time losing ships when they can't jump out of our lines of fire."

Wallace nodded. Once again, Pinkerton proved why madness was the CCE's greatest resource. "How many interdictors do we need to make sure they can't jump in and out or Caprica's orbit?"

"Two ships, four at most. Colonel Pinkerton's going to take the Interceptor to Sol, give Admiral Adama a hand if there's an attack going on in Sol."

"We're going to need to have a war council before he leaves." Philips said shaking his head. "Even with those Interdictors we need a solid strategy here..."

* * *

The surviving Admirals and senior commanders, plus a single Lt. Colonel, stood in Hel's War Room, being the best equipped for the job.

"The Cylons have successfully kicked us off all but one world, and from the look of things, they're not doing the nuclear option." Sasha huffed. "Or they aren't packing N-Jammer Cancellers."

Ron nodded in affirmation to the latter. "A few of our ships are equipped with N-Jammers, and those baseships were spamming nukes like mad. And we've buried a few dozen N-Jammers under the surface of every colony. We're not risking another holocaust."

"Well, there is _some_ good news it seems." Philip said, "With the Interdictors in place, we should be able too bottleneck the Cylons a bit. Without resurrection technology, they'll be much more cautious deploying their forces."

"I'm not so sure. At Scorpia and Picon, they used mass waves of fighters. Either the Raiders have been programmed to be suicidal, or there's something wrong going on."

Sasha shook her head. "That's irrelevant at the moment." She said, "President Roslin's given us orders to make damn sure that we re-secure Cyrannus, not bottle ourselves up on Caprica like rats that can't escape a sinking ship. As soon as we're able to, we're to counterattack on the three closest planets."

Tauron, Liberon and Scorpia were first up on the list. The Gemonese could burn, for all they cared: even the second in command of the armed forces (and Ron's boss) didn't want to deal with his homeworld just yet.

"In the ideal situation, if Earth isn't being besieged by Cylons, they may be able to lend us a hand." Philips said, "Though I doubt that's gonna be the case."

"Pegasus will be heading out in a few hours. We still need to load up those Mobile Suits-"

Don't bother, sir. Pegasus wasn't designed to carry Mobile Suits. Put them on the Interceptor: she was rebuilt from the ground up."

Lee grinned. "Alright, then. Admirals, permission to return to our ships?"

Zeus and Sasha nodded before both low-ranking men saluted and left the war room.

"Things are going to be interesting." The PA pinged before they heard Homura's voice call out. "Action Stations, Action Stations, set Condition one throughout the fleet: Cylon vessels have jumped into orbit!"

* * *

Two battlestars broke off from the fleet as Cylon baseships and smaller warships performed what Jaden and other Terrans called a 'zerg rush'. Thousands of Raiders, perhaps tens of thousands, led the charge, followed by hundreds of larger Banshee, Wraith, Liche and Spectre-class escorts, countered by the Colonials, who sent up almost as many Vipers, Scythe, Maul, Glaive and Halberd-Class ships.

But the Cylons learned by dying: all of them were manned by inexperienced crews. The Colonials, on the other hand, were war-hardened veterans. The Battlestar's and their support ships fire off a hail of weapons fire from missiles and 600cm guns to their new beam weapons, which blew apart the Cylon Swarm of fighters approaching as they prepared for the FTL Jump.

"Pegasus, Interceptor: FTL drives are spun up. Coordinates are for the PLANTs. Chairwoman Clyne might be willing to send that new ship of theirs to give us a hand." The two ships jumped away, shortly before the interdictors reengaged, trapping everyone in Caprica's orbit. If anything, the Colonials were very good at being at the defensive end of siege warfare, proven as a baseship exploded at the hands of Kratos and Mercury.

* * *

 **Ron the True Fan: The Colonies are under attack. This is going to be fun.**

 **117Jorn: The countdown has begun, as one of the largest interstellar conflicts heats up!**

 **Ron the True Fan: The war continues. Prepare for blood!**

 **Ja Ne!**


	15. Chapter 14: Inferno in Space

**Chapter 15: Inferno in Space**

* * *

 **ZAFT battleship** _ **Fortuna**_ **\- near the PLANTs**

* * *

Fires raged all throughout the ZAFT heavy cruiser, caused mostly by the smaller Mobile suits making runs at the ship when they had taken heavy damage.

"Bank to port! Keep those sons of bitches away from our topside! We've already lost our positron cannon and both Tristans! Tell our Mobile Suit teams to take up covering positions around the ship!"

The _Fortuna_ was smoking from hull breaches, the 46cm cannon turret was destroyed, the tristans and Tannhauser were gone and the only things that weren't completely ruined were the CIWS turrets. And those only lasted for as long as they had ammo.

The Unknown Enemies were making a rapid push into the Earth Sphere after claiming the moon, and now seemed to be focusing a lot of their effort on the PLANT's. ZAFT's forces were doing all they could to fend off the attackers, but it wasn't looking very good. The _Fortuna_ was just one of many ZAFT vessels in similar predicaments - another example was the _Eternal_ , while it was better off, it was beginning to show its fair share of scars.

" _The_ Freya _is going down! Repeat, the Freya-_ " On board the _Eternal_ , Andrew Waltfeld winced as the _Freya_ , one of the _Minerva's_ sisters, exploded, screams echoing over the radio. Sitting behind him, as usual, was Lacus Clyne, who was unwilling to stay on Aprilius One, wanting more to be involved in the fighting in some fashion. "If there was any time for the Colonials to show up with those unholy battlestars of theirs, I would think it would be NOW!"

Sadly, life did not give Andy what he wanted.

But it _did_ give them the next best thing, as several green beams soared through the darkness of space, and impacted against one of the enemy battleships, causing it to explode in a brilliant explosion. " _This is the Dreadnought_ Schwarzkopf _of the NEA 8th Fleet!_ " A voice rang out across the Comm Channels. " _Sorry we're late to the party ZAFT!_ "

"This is the Eternal! Better late then never, Schwartzkopf!"

"Unknown forces attacked our shipyard, then pressed at the Moon; the Colonials have abandoned Ptolemaeus crater, plus our 'friends' are equipped with FTL drives and DRADIS. We're fighting a hybrid of the Colonials and US!"

While the unknowns weren't using FTL jumps now, that explained why ZAFT's ass was getting unceremoniously whooped. They were jumping in and out out of sight, explaining why there seemed to be hundreds of the damn ships and machines.

"Do the Colonials have something that can STOP shit from jumping away?! I would love to keep these bastards in one spot for a few seconds so I can fucking KILL THEM!"

" _Unknown - we've got our hands full here as is, and it seems like the Colonials have their own issues back home._ " The NEA captain informed. " _Looks like the Cylons are back as well._ "

THAT wasn't a coincidence. This had to be a coordinated attack: the unknowns to keep them off balance at Sol while the Cylons attacked the Colonials at Cyrannus. The Eternal bucked from a beam hitting the port side, venting part of three decks into space. A ship, light cruiser-class, beared down on the Eternal, having them dead to rights. "When he dies, Kira is going to kill me for getting his girlfriend killed."

A massive shell impacted the cruiser, and Waltfeld smiled. A ZAFT officer would recognize the guns of a Colonial battlestar any day. "ZAFT forces, this is the Colonial interdictor battlestar Interceptor, Major Stegoras commanding."

"Battlestar _Interceptor_ , you sure as hell took your sweet ass time, but glad your here!" Andy said grinning, "We've got bastards all around us, they're using a mixture of Earth Sphere and Colonial-based tech it seems, they've got DRADIS and they've been messing with us with those damned FTL Pin-point jumps!"\

"Son of a bitch, we thought Earth was safe! Hold on, we've got something that can stop them from jumping. You're going to have to cover us, though."

Andy wondered what the hell he was talking about before a ship tried to jump, only producing a flash that resulted in the cruiser drifting slightly. "All ZAFT units, Interceptor: FTLs are knocked out! Give them hell!"

"You've got bigger guns! Why not use them?!" Then it finally clicked. Whatever was stopping them from jumping drained so much power that they couldn't move, let alone fire their guns. "Nevermind! _Eternal_ to all ZAFT Forces! Push them back, but make sure to give _Interceptor_ some damn cover!"

* * *

" _All Vipers, this is_ Interceptor _Actual: make them bleed. You are weapons free; keep them away from the PLANTs and the ZAFT fleet_."

While they barely had enough power for the wireless and life support, the Viper launch tubes used a similar system to an older aircraft carrier, using counterweights. As such, their was much launching of Vipers, all armed with Titanomachy missiles.

And Ron was going to ENJOY killing the bastards using his new Viper and its' unholy weapons system.

"All birds, Psycho: fox 4-2!" Ron fired off two missiles, heading straight for the enemy Mobile Suits, who vainly tried to jump away, only to realize that those missiles _were_ going to hit.

* * *

Prayer watched from the bridge of his flagship with narrowed eyes. "So the Colonials still sent support..." he mused. "And they made a counter to FTL drives..."

"Orders sir?"

"...we have completed our operational objective," Prayer said, "ZAFT will not be able to provide additional support to the Earth. And even with a few Battlestars, it won't be enough to stop us. Send word for all forces to withdraw from the battlespace - move us out of range of the Interdictor's effect."

"Aye, sir." The Acileldum moved away from the PLANTs, which quickly became a killing field as the ZAFT fleet, supported by Colonial Vipers, began to kill their ships and Mobile Suits. Even the smaller models were getting slaughtered.

"Status of the strike force at GENESIS Alpha?"

"They've boarded the station. There's fierce resistance, but those new Centurions will do their jobs."

Once GENESIS Alpha was under their control, they could turn it on the PLANTs, then at the moon. After that, the Liberians could jump to Cyrannus and end this once and for all.

Simple.

* * *

 **GENESIS Alpha**

* * *

Life hated Amy right now. "Is it my imagination, or do those things look like mini BaBIs?!" She asked, as she fired her M1A Astray's head vulcans at the attacking craft, as the Junk Guild - and the few CCE personnel stationed there - fought off the assault of unknown forces. "What the hell are these things?"

They were barely 3 meters long, looked like DINNs, and also reminded Amy of a Ramusasa in Guardian mode. Dozens of them had been flying through the debris field surrounding the station, entering it as well to cause havoc.

" _Uh, we got a problem, guys!_ " The sound of gunfire was heard through the comm, and that was a problem.

Because every gun had its' own unique sound. And those sounded like Cylon 7.62mm and 12.7mm machine guns.

"Have everyone on-station get their War Suits on, and Laser Rifles ready!" Amy shouted, "Whoever these guys are, they're officially allied with the Cylons! We CANNOT let them gain GENESIS Alpha even if we have to destroy it!"

" _NO ONE BLOWS UP MY BASE!_ " A voice shouted, as Amy watched as Jaden's GuAIZ Experimental flew into the fray, firing its weapons in full-burst mode annihilating dozens of U.E mobile suits. " _Blue Group! Red Group! Cover all air locks, no one else gets inside! Green Group, Yellow Group, follow me! We gotta push these assholes out of here and set up a defensive perimeter around Alpha!_ "

"Nice of you to show up, Jaden." Amy said with a smirk, "We've got Cylons that look a LOT like the Ramusasa in Guardian mode flying around inside the base! Guess that explains why the Colonials don't like the damn thing. Must bring up bad memories." That was an understatement. Out of the over 800 MS pilots in the Colonial Fleet, only a handful wanted to get into the Ramusasa, and most of them were Terran. "Maybe you should ask Colonel Pinkerton when he gets here about that!"

" _I will, but right now we've got a station to defend!_ " Jaden shouted, " _Kick those SOB's out of MY GENESIS ALPHA! And for Fuck's Sake keep them out of Hangar Bay X!_ "

"We've been working on that since they got here! Doesn't help that the bastards have FTL drives!" To prove her point, a Mobile Suit jumped out of range of her beam rifle, continuing to make them waste ammo and time. "FUCK! I thought the Colonials were supposed to send something that could counter FTL jumps last week!"

" _They're being attacked by Cylons! We probably won't be getting any help from them anytime soon!_ " Jaden said.

"You're shitting me."

" _Afraid not_!"

Multiple flashes appeared, signalling the arrival of multiple Raptors, all in Colonial metallic olive green/brown, carrying some kind of...pod under their undercarriages, replacing the ventral KEW-18T 30mm cannon/DEW-1T turret.

Orb Raptors were much more...colorful. Gaudily so, if you asked the Colonials.

" _This is Interdictor Flight, assigned to interdictor battlestar_ Interceptor _. We heard that you have an FTL problem. We're the solution_."

"Solution? I thought you needed a big-ass ship to produce a proper interdictor field!"

" _Ours is smaller, Commander, but no less effective. All Raptors, spin up interdictors_."

Interdictors came in all sizes: from the pods under the Raptors to the Interceptor's modified interdictor drives. In the same vain, their range of effectiveness varied by size, as the Raptor pods had an effective range of 40 LSU, equal to 80 kilometers. Not much compared to the lagrange point-range of an Interceptor.

But eight Raptors, all with active interdictor drives, had equal range. And it was more than enough to _greatly_ limit the FTL capabilities of the Cylons.

"Interdictors up, Commander." The MSs jumped again, but they simply flashed instead of teleporting.

"Finally."

" _Now we can finally get_ it _finished,_ " they heard Jaden say, causing them those not in the know to blink.

"Finish what?"

"Just something that'll give these assholes a big headache!"

* * *

The HK Centurions flew throughout GENESIS Alpha, but the Vipers were gunning them down fast. "Frak, someone tell me what the hell's with these things!"

"This is Interdictor flight: enemy MS and Raider teams are leaving the area. Admiral Adama wants us to stay here to keep GENESIS Alpha protected."

Protect the gamma ray laser. Yeah, good idea.

Good thing they had ammo for their Vipers.

* * *

 **Battlestar Galactica - 4 hours later**

* * *

The aging, blackened frame of the ship everyone feared flew towards the PLANTs, joined by a number of Raptors, all carrying the most important leaders in the Earth Sphere.

Jaden's landed first, who winced as he saw the battle-scarred warship barely holding together.

Ron's raptor was next, followed by Lacus'.

The hangar was crowded, making navigation a nightmare before the two engineers found each other. "Welcome to the shit storm."

"No shit, man. What the hell happened back in Cyrannus? We heard that the Cylons were attacking, but no details."

"Massive blitzkrieg. They attacked EVERY colony. Only reason they aren't a nuclear wasteland is because of the N-Jammers."

Jaden blinked at that, "Geez, just what is it with them and nuking everything?" he said.

"They're Cylons, it's what they do," Ron answered.

They walked through the corridors of the battlestar until they reached CIC, where repair work was underway.

"What the _hell_ did you people do to my ship?" Ron growled, his eye twitching at the damage done.

"Bunch of assholes attacked the Schwartzkopf's commissioning ceremony before launching an all-out strike on the PLANTs which we barely stopped, as well as an attack on GENESIS Alpha." Jaden laid out, "Your interdictor Raptors are helping with the defense, keeping them from jumping out."

"Nice to know some things are still working."

"Yeah, though now the Cylons got help." Jaden said, "Who the hell they are, we don't know."

"I don't know who gave them Mobile Suits and beam weapons and I REALLY don't care. We need to deal with this problem fast so we can focus all our efforts on the Colonies. We lose them, we lose everything. Again."

"No need to tell me," Jaden said, "But still, it would be good if we had intel on these shitheads."

"Damn right it would. Then I'd be able to find out where they're from. And promptly shit on their parades."

Dualla poked her head up at her post. "Admiral, there's a transmission coming in on all bands. You're going to want to hear this."

"On screen." The main screen flipped on, before it displayed the image of an middle-aged man, with grey-blue hair, and aqua eyes.

" _Greetings, people of Earth, and the 12 Colonies of Kobol,_ " The figure spoke. " _My name is Eos Chasma-Brahe… and I hope that I have your attention now, after the attacks on the Colonies of Kobol, the PLANT's and the Earth Sphere in its entirety. However I ask you not to be afraid… but instead, to be relieved._ "

"...the fuck?" Jaden muttered.

" _You should all be relieved, for today marks the day that humanity shall begin its evolution once more,_ " Eos continued, " _For far too long, ZAFT, the Alliance, Orb, even the Colonials have proven time and time again… that they cannot be trusted with power. All of their crowning achievements are nothing but devices of destruction, to slaughter anyone who sees things…_ differently _from what they do… this ends today._ "

" _Humans do not know what they want, you all are simply grasping into the void, demanding for a purpose so much you imagine beings like gods into existence to fulfill your need to become part of something greater._ " He continued, " _However there is no need for such beliefs… for now, we shall_ all _know our purpose in life._ "

"...I'm getting Destiny Plan vibes here..."

" _I offer the people of Earth, and the Colonials this one chance… to lay down your arms, and embrace this new future I have forged with the Cylons,_ " He said, " _For all humanity to know their place in life, just as Cylons do - to end the cycle of hate between man and machine, natural and coordinator… from now on,_ all _will know their purpose in life, and we shall march into the future together, as one._ " His eyes then narrowed slightly. " _However… if you refuse, and commit to fighting the inevitable wave of the future… you shall be lost to the sands of time._ "

"Well, you fucking called it. Destiny plan."

Adama, standing at the plotting table, scowled. "Not fraking happening."

"We of the Librarian Works will ensure that where Gilbert Durandal failed...we will not. We will save humanity from itself."

"More like Librarian Works will live up to its' name. As a historical footnote. We'll retake the Colonies. We'll find out where you are and we'll kick your asses."

Ron stood straight before putting out the traditional Colonial rallying cry. "So say we all!"

"So say we all," Jaden said nodding. "So… where do we start?"

"We secure the Colonies. Once we have the Cyrannus system secured, we can flood the Sol system with battlestars." And with that many battlestars, Librarian Works was going to die.

But first, they had to secure the home of the Colonies.

* * *

Ron the True Fan: Well, it's been a while. But with _Star Trek Odyssey_ on a brief hiatus, might as well get this done.

Patriot-112: I've been busy as hell myself, doing some odd jobs here and there, as well as new ideas for fics. I won't be of much help cause of those problems, but I will make contributions here and there.

Ron the True Fan: So if you expect massive space battles for the rest of the fic...wish granted.

117Jorn: Prepare the fleets gentlemen! *Adjusts captain's hat* we're in for a wild ride!

Ron the True Fan: Note: when this is posted, the fic will be finished and I'll post another next week.

Ja Ne!


	16. Chapter 15: War for the Colonies, pt 1

**Chapter 16: War for the Colonies, pt 1**

* * *

 **Colonial Battlestar** _ **Mercury**_ **\- Scorpia orbit**

* * *

The Cylons had partial control of the planet, with the Colonial Foreign Legion and the regular fleet fighting back as hard as they could.

Sasha was having a hard time dealing with the massive Cylon horde, but the enhanced Colonial ships were holding them at bay: in the past, it would've taken a full BSG to fight a Cylon battlegroup. But with the addition of Terran technology, only two Mercury-Class battlestars with a few small support ships, nowhere near a BSG, were holding them back.

The vessels unleashed an endless stream of beams and projectiles arced from the battlestars as they held off the Cylons - while Vipers, Raptors and Darts flew in a deadly dance against Raiders and all their own mobile suits. It was a battle of twisted metal, plasma, missiles and bullets which ignited the skies above Scorpia.

"Well?"

"Three full armored divisions are holding our ground forces at bay outside of the capital, supported by drone Mobile Suits based on the ZuOOT and DINN. Frakers are keeping the Legionnares and regular Marines from getting anywhere near the positions to take out command and control."

Sasha snarled as she looked at the maps. The city was filled with choke points and AA was INSANE, even for the Cylons. That would pose a problem. They needed to take those AA positions out.

"Do we have any options?" She asked.

"Well, obviously just an orbital bombardment or a few nukes are out of the question," A Major said, "We need to save the city, not doom it… there's no way in above, no way around or through the city… "

Sasha hummed in thought. "...what about the sewers?" She asked, "Are they still intact?"

"Barely, but they're probably filled with Centurions." "Even with the Centurions, a few explosive rounds will take care of them, or at the very least make the above ground forces' lives easier." They still couldn't send AFVs down to the sewers.

But they didn't need to.

"We have any of those Junk Guild-built Warsuits?" Sasha asked.

"Yeah, enough to outfit a full Platoon."

"Then get me a platoon of the best Marines you can get me, and slap e'm inside those things!" Sasha ordered, "They're going for a swim!"

* * *

SCUBA Centurions swam in the dirty waters of the Scorpian capital, their 7.62mm dart machine guns, akin to the aquatic assault rifles used by frogmen.

But they were designed to face lightly protected Marines wearing SCUBA gear.

They were not meant to face heavily armored opponents, as they had almost no armor. And the results were obvious when they came across foes using aquatic mobile suits.

Or Marines wearing waterproof power armor. Two Centurions were shot by small photon maser rifles, tearing them apart as they were swarmed by a small squad of elite Colonial Marines.

" _We owe the entire damned Junk Guild free drinks once this is over,_ " A Marine said as the maser rifle was recharged before plasting apart another SCUBA-Cylon. " _This must be what if feels like to be a damn Toaster!_ "

" _Cut the chatter boys, heading up._ " The power armored Marines rose up from the water as they emerged near the closest manhole deep inside the city. "Status on all teams?"

" _Bravo Team reporting, just reached the surface. Tons of toasters, none spotted us yet._ "

" _Charlie Team reporting, same here. They don't know what about to hit e'm…_ "

A Cylon ZuOOT rolled past them before they fired a number of charges onto the tracks, stopping it and forcing it to target them, though it was swiftly destroyed by a Rhino equipped with a literal frakton of ASM-14 Chromebasher anti-armor missiles, which loosed a full volley of the missiles.

Normally, this would be considered a massive waste, but Mobile Suits like the ZuOOT were heavily armored: it would take more then one missile to destroy it and the titanomachy was designed to attack the cockpit, removing the pilot. Without a pilot, it would take a lot of missiles to destroy it.

"Rhino 102 to infil squad: good luck. I'll provide air support as much as possible."

"Copy that Rhino 102, clear out toasters you and-" he was cut off when the sounds of automatic cannon fire were heard on both the comm, and somewhere close by.

The Rhino spiraled into a SAM implacement, the wreckage of the warbird smashing to the ground. It was not alone: dozens of Vipers, Raptors and other attack craft had been shot down, most of their pilots either being killed or ejecting into buildings, being killed instantly.

"FRAK! We need to take out those AA guns!"

"Then let's get to it," the Squad leader said, patting the satchel charges they all carried. "Let's clear the skies for the flyboys! Bravo Team, Charlie Team, move to your designated targets! Find your AA Guns and take e'm down!"

" _Roger._ "

Alpha found their gun: a Cylon twin 40mm gatling cannon with an eight-shot SAM launcher, which fired a massive burst of 40mm shells at a pair of Mk VIIE Vipers, turning one into a fireball which crashed into a building.

If it weren't for the fact that the Cylons were losing more then the Colonials, given their already-depleted military resources, this would be a slaughter.

But the Colonial military was made up of veterans of four wars, five if you counted Galactica's command staff. The Cylons were a freshly made bunch of machines. Most Viper and even Rhino pilots were at least quadruple aces.

Galactica's roster had a grand total of 50 super-aces, the title being granted only because their kill counts have to be counted by the number of _squadrons_ they destroyed rather then individual aircraft.

That should scare you.

Alpha team steadily approached the AA Gun, scanning the surroundings for any Centurions around, but it looked like the toasters didn't think anyone would ever be able to breach their defenses and left the AA Guns unprotected. Their loss, their gain.

The team snuck up behind the AA Gun, as the demolitions expert quickly began to slap on C4 charges upon its chrome-plated armor. "This is gonna have a very pretty boom." He chuckled, as the final charge was set. "Ready to go, boss!"

They cleared out before the charge was set off, turnign the AA mount into a flaming pile of exploding ordnance and metal.

"Alpha here: AA taken out." "Bravo, AA down." A ZuOOT rolled up as Gamma's gun exploded, but a beam round from a Raptor's DEW-1T destroyed it, followed by a wave of Rhinos and assault Raptors to roll in.

"Rhino 45, Pegasus: clear out all heavy armor and clear the way for the infantry. Good work, infil."

"Just another day at the office, Admiral." The Squad Leader informed. "Awaiting further orders."

"Get your squad back into orbit, Sergeant: we've got 10 more planets to secure. As soon as BSG-31 is ready, they'll be taking our place on blockade duty. Libron and Tauron better hold on."

* * *

Tauron was the mother of the Cylon race for a reason.

The metacognitive processor stolen by Samuel Adama a decade before the Cylon War from Virgis Corporation gave the Cylons a 'mind' and they wanted to see their second homeworld burn.

Caprica created the body. But Tauron created the mind. And now Tauron's short-numbered Home Guard were getting their asses kicked. Not enough AA for the Raiders, not enough heavy vehicles to hold off the Cylon Centurions and not enough people to hold a gun. And what few they had were not exactly well-trained, seasoned Marines.

Unfortunately for the Cylons however… they never read up on Earth's military history. Because if they did… maybe they would've been reminded of the Battle of Stalingrad.

Even as the Cylons pushed forward, the Colonials made sure they bled for every step they took. Be it sniper fire from rooftops, or people running towards Centurions armed with little more than knives, bricks, and molotov cocktails.

They lost Tauron before, they sure as fuck weren't about to lose it again.

For every kilometer of ground they gained, the Cylons lost thousands of Centurions and so many heavy vehicles, they had to move in ZuOOTs, but those, too, were hit with mines and what little anti-armor weapons they had.

The streets of Tauron were slowly becoming bathed in the blood and chrome of those who fought there. The metallic husks of Centurions and the corpses of Taurons littered the city, and continued to grow as the Cylons continued to push more and more into the planet.

But they were pushing forward. The Colonials, without air power, were losing the fight.

* * *

The Seigan reentered the atmosphere, her ablative armor taking beam and kinetic rounds as she flew over the surface, launching their half-squadron of Raptors and Rhinos loaded with to the gills with anti-armor missiles and supplies for the Home Guard.

As well as reinforcements in the form of a half-division of 5000 Colonial Marines, most of whom were former Foreign Legion before renouncing their original citizenship and joining the Colonies.

"Remember your fracking training, and you will survive today!" A Lieutenant shouted as the Marines prepared their weapons as the Raptors prepared to touch down and drop them off. "Watch your corners, and keep an eye out for fleshjobs!"

"I don't think Pinkerton-"

"I DON'T CARE RIGHT NOW!" He shouted, as the hatches slid open. "Move! Move! Move!"

The KEW-14 8-barrel 8.5mm gatling gun mounted to the door opened fire on Centurions, the explosive rounds tearing into the enemy forces, allowing the Marines to storm ashore, as it were. The gunners removed their weapons from the Raptors, using rather stripped down versions of the power armor to carry the weapons into battle as any man would an LMG.

Well, they sure as fuck weren't LMGs.

Riflemen and grenadiers supported the HMGers, who got to cover and sprayed 500 rounds of ammo into hardened positions. It didn't really matter: their 'suits' could support an ammo can with over 8000 rounds and were generally dragging MORE ammo cans from the Raptors with them.

After all, who would ever say 'no' to being capable of carrying a fucking _minigun_ around like your that Earth movie star Arnold Schwarzenegger?

The Heavy Gunners unleashed their hail of weapons fire upon the Centurions - the 8.5 Cal bullets proving to be more than enough to pierce through their armor plating as the Marines pushed forward into the city.

"Move! We're not being paid by the hour, here! We're paid by the fraking centurions we take down!" Two CGUEs landed, but they were instantly destroyed by Titanomachy missiles fired by Raptors.

Tauron was going to be liberated soon.

* * *

Picon was home to the Colonial Fleet Headquarters prior to the fall, with the headquarters still under reconstruction (command was still on board the Galactica due to this reason) and nuke-proofing.

The Cylons ruined that plan, occupying the half-built building as their own GHQ, fortifying the living shit out of it with Centurions, ZuOOTs, DINNs and whatever else they could spare, which was a LOT.

They believed that their control of the system could never be questioned now, not with all the firepower they possessed.

Unfortunately, they forgot that the Colonials don't play fair.

For the briefest moment, their DRADIS sensors detected something, but just as quickly as they appeared, they vanished. The Cylons and Hybrids simply passed it off as a glitch.

They never thought that a squadron of Stealth, mirage coil-equipped Ravens now moving towards the Cylon GHQ.

They were lightly armed, only carrying two 30mm aunocannons and a single 40mm beam autogun with an internal bay for up to four missiles.

But 16 missiles were all that were needed to take out the air defenses for the non-stealths.

" _Crow flight, Crow Leader: weapons free. Priorities are AA guns and anti-armor weapons. Hit and fade: jump back to_ Mercury _after expending guided weapons_."

They weren't there to stay: Ravens were too lightly armed for that kind of engagement. So they opened their weapon bays and fired off one missile each.

Crow 1's ASM-14A impacted a Cylon AA missile battery, turning it into a burning bonfire. 2's missile destroyed a 155mm anti-tank gun, the ammo cooking off in seconds.

3's missile destroyed a ZuOOT's main camera unit while 4's finished it off.

So on and so forth until the AA defenses were weak enough for a landing. But with over 60 AA emplacements, the Ravens couldn't get it done alone.

Which was why Crow flight was joined by a new branch of the MS Corps: the Saboteurs.

They either used modified GAT-04J Windams or GAT-X207 Blitz Gundams (mostly the former) for stealth attacks. VPSA was not something they needed for staying hidden: stealth was their best protection.

As the Ravens committed rapid strikes upon the Cylons, the stealth Windams and Blitz Gundams silently maneuvered behind the Cylon lines as they stealthily attached nukes and other high-yield weapons upon the Baseshps and support vessels, before moving behind the Cylons… and pulling the trigger.

The explosive force destroyed any real chance of a Cylon resistance in orbit as the starfish-shaped warships turned into a debris field in orbit.

That was a cue for Battlestar Group 38 to jump in and drop Vipers and Rhinos for anti-armor/fighter combat in-atmo. They needed to deal with this quickly.

EArth needed the full hammer of the Colonial Fleet to help them against their enemy.

* * *

 **Earth Alliance dreadnought Schwartzkopf - Earth Sphere**

* * *

The unknowns were on the move: more forces were jumping in, outnumbering the strained Alliance forces five to one, as well as ZAFT's still-devestated fleet.

They had almost a fifth of their forces left from the two wars, which was why they both contracted the colonials to build more ships for them as well as sell them their older-model battlestars once the Columbia and Polaris-Classes came into full scale production.

Thankfully though, with Blue Cosmos and LOGOS all but gone, that meant all the idiots were gone from the EA - leaving only the people who actually had _brains_.

The Unknown enemies and their Librarian Works allies besieged the _Schwartzkopf_ and her escort fleet, but it was not taking its defense lightly. The EA forces were staying on the move and striking from a distance, while their mobile suits fended off any FTL-jumping Cylons that try to one-shot their ships with nukes. This was the true embodiment of the EA, the true face of a world united as a single force, uncorrupted by BC or LOGOS. And they will be damned before they allow it to fall now.

THat being said, there was so few of them left, they had a hard time marshalling a large-scale fleet, which was why Galactica and ZAFT were joining them for the counterattack on Copernicus. While ZAFT had been depleted as badly as the Alliance, they still had more ships and machines, ironically.

The plan was simple: blow through the enemy fleet, land ground forces, retake the city. Simple. Not so simple to do.

But they had _Galactica_. That had to count for something.

"More Cylons, moving in from our right flank!"

"Gabriel and Richards teams are moving to intercept!"

" _Galactica_ is providing long-range AA support, cover her!"

"Persistent little fuckers!"

Starbuck looked out from the Dart as the battle enseued. It was pure, raw chaos all around.

The war went on, Galactica, as always, being the turning point, as the lighter warships were being torn apart by the 600cm cannons. But the rate of fire for the guns was dropping, slowly, but surely.

Galactica was dying. Takeo and Pinkerton could breathe life on the embers, but there was no going around it. This was Galactica's last war.

And the Old Man would make it a glorious one.

' _Keep it together, old girl._ ' Kara thought, looking at _Galactica_ as it continued to tank out damage upon the enemies. ' _You're not dying on us yet!_ ' She banked the Dart to the left as she dived into the fireworks below.

Two of their heavy warships broke off to engage Galactica, leaving a gap for Raptors to secure a foothold. But it wasn't enough to stop the Allies.

If that was the enemy's plan, at least.

* * *

Two baseships jumped into orbit, linking up with a pair of Librarian warships.

Copernicus was a mirage, meant to make them think that the moon was their main target.

The real target was Earth: Kaohsiung and Lake Victoria's mass drivers, to be exact.

The Librarians and Martians would focus on delaying the Colonials at the moon while the Cylons took the drivers.

They were used to the Colonials. Earth wasn't ready for the Cylons.

The Cylons began their assault upon Earth, as the defenders scrambled everything they could to defend their mass drivers… what little they had left.

Thanks to the Colonials during the 2nd war, much of the military capacity of the Earth Alliance had been whittled down to their reserves - and even they weren't exactly fresh.

The Colonials kicked their asses for years, now that ass-kickery was coming back to bite them right where it hurt the most.

Centurion forces landed, marching through artillery and anti-armor fire.

They didn't care: they were expendable soldiers. So they attacked with abandon.

And they won.

* * *

"They're forcing us to break up our forces." Jaden had to agree. And the Cylons were now confirmed to be allies of these Librarian Works.

"Smart." He said, "They're keeping our Earth-based allies on Earth and starving them in space… now the only functioning mass driver's on earth are Kaguya and the JG's Giga Float."

"How are they holding up?"

"So far the metal heads and the Librarians haven't really touched Orb, which surprises me." Jordan said, "But they're probably just saving them for last… out of the entire Earth, Orb's the most well defended. And we've had a few raids, but Giga Float's still kicking. She's loitering around the pacific between Orb and Hawaii."

Adama scowled. He wanted to unleash the Colonial military on them.

But they had to secure Cyrannus. Couriers reporting back said they had secured Tauron and Scorpia with Picon under attack by Colonial Fleet.

It was going to just be _Galactica_ and _Interceptor_ for now.

"Secure the moon. Then we go back to Earth and kick the Cylons off our planet."

It was an independent world. But it WAS their 13th Colony.

It was their world as well as the Terrans.

* * *

 **Ron the True Fan: Well...War sucks, don't it?**

 **117Jorn: War… War never Changes.**

 **Ron the True Fan: Yes it does, Jorn.**

 **117Jorn: Its symbolic - the methods of implementing war changes, but the core aspects of War and** _ **why**_ **people wage it don't.**

 **Ron the True Fan: War is as fluid as humanity. Something that Celestial Being and those 'total pacifist' idiots don't get. But we have a war to fight. Next week, the war finally comes to ground.**

 **Ja Ne!**


	17. Chapter 16: War for the Colonies, pt 2

**Earth - Lake Victoria mass driver**

* * *

Two Cylon heavy raiders spammed rockets at a Dagger L, impacting the shield before a fighter fired a pair of missiles into the legs, sending the Mobile Suit to the ground before the Centurions tore the cockpit open and machine gunned the pilot to death.

The Earth Forces were being pushed out of Victoria as the Cylons continued to press forward. The already weakened OMNI Enforcer was able to put up a good fight, but in the end they couldn't save off against the Cylons forever.

That was when they decided to deploy their answer to the Viper.

A delta-winged fighter fired its' 20mm cannons, tearing two raiders apart and turning them into fireballs as it climbed from ground level to meet the enemy.

This was the F/A-262 Sidewinder, a 8 meter long fighter only marginally bigger then the Viper, designed to be launched from battlestars.

It had as much a warload as a Raptor and lacked the agility of the Viper, but it made up for it in armor. It was a fairly good trade off, as it was able to shrug off some of the lighter weapons fire sent up towards it, and tanked the fire from a Cylon Raider that tried to attack.

The Squadron of Sidewinders soared in as they began straifing the Cylon ground forces, striking them down and buying time for OMNI to fall back and regroup, while also taking down the Cylons at long-range with SAM Missiles and other long-range weapons. This bought them time to fall back and regroup.

They could have the mass driver.

The Cylons wouldn't be keeping it.

* * *

The Librarians fought hard. Adama would grant them that.

But his seasoned warriors - after going through the Second Cylon War, the Valentine War, the Second Valentine War and finally this Third Cylon War, they _earned_ that title - were tearing them apart.

"All players, _Galactica_ : push them towards _Galactica_. Let the flak field tear them up. _Interceptor_ , what's your power status?"

" _Bill, I can't exactly tune this thing in battle: I need to upgrade the reactor. And since Jaden ran back to GENESIS Alpha to keep that new wave of Cylon assholes away_ -"

"I get it, Psycho, but _Galactica's_ power is failing and we can't keep up the rate of fire."

The CCE Colonel sighed on board his ship. " _I'll be over there in 15 to see if I can't get power flowing again, Admiral_."

"You have 10." Adama said before turning off the wireless. "Pump whatever we've got to laminated armor and weapons, siphon off from Life Support if you have to, and shut down all unnecessary systems! We need our fire rate back up now!"

Gaeta got to work, but that wasn't going to matter if the reactor couldn't get the repairs it needed. Ever since that godforsaken attack by those _Charlemagne_ -Class battleships a year past, _Galactica_ had been falling apart.

Ron had performed his greatest miracles making sure _Galactica_ was in fighting shape, but like an aging prize fighter, she was too old, too weak and just...outmoded.

It was a shame to admit it.

But _Galactica_ wasn't going to make it back to the Colonies. She would die in the Sol System.

* * *

Jaden sliced the GuAIZ's beam saber through another Cylon CGUE, finishing off the last machine. "There… that's the last of them!" He shouted on the comms, looking over the area of space. Yet another Cylon raid had struck against GENESIS Alpha, and once again it had been beaten back by the Junk Guild. They have continued to try and whittle down their combat capacity, but thankfully they haven't been able to get very far. With their own interdictor field set up, the Cylons couldn't do cheap tricks of flanking them, forcing them into head-on engagements. And if they enter the field, they can't exactly escape.

The Cylons, however, had numbers. It was like the Warsaw Pact vs NATO. And the Cylons were the Warsaw Pact.

They had limitless numbers of equipment and cheap soldiers.

Jaden had to wonder how the Colonials fought them to a standstill before. Still, he couldn't let them get their hands on GENESIS Alpha. After all...

He had something that could turn this war around for the Allies.

" _Jaden, message from_ Galactica _: Cylons have secured mass drivers. OMNI Enforcer falling back to Gibraltar and Orb_."

Figured: with the Cylons, everyone was all on the same side now.

ZAFT needed OMNI Enforcer. So did Orb.

This was a textbook military invasion of what, in all intents and purposes, were aliens. Us vs Them. Humanity would either stand together, or die alone.

"Order the Giga Float to move to Hawaii, closer to EA Territory." He said, "Tell them OMNI is to be granted access to the Mass Driver."

" _Wha-Jaden that's-_ "

"Desperate times call for desperate measures." Jordan informed, "I know my parents will agree. They need access to space, so we're giving it to them."

"...Understood."

"And tell Adama his forces better secure Cyrannus fast! We need those battlestars HERE!"

* * *

 **Picon - Colonial Fleet Headquarters**

* * *

The CFHQ was on fire as Raptors bombed it with napalm and WP bombs, Centurions falling to the guns of the heavies.

All of the Cylon ground forces were falling back in the view of the Colonial onslaught for one reason: Cavil was an arrogant, inflexible bastard.

He refused to upgrade with beam technology, refused to use anything not made by the Cylons, the only exception being the Mobile Suits. And that was costing him DEARLY.

"Mercury, _Marine 1: we've got these assholes in place! Permission to use the HDEW-3s_!"

" _Granted. We can always rebuild a building. Destroy it_."

" _Roger that - firing HDEW-3 in 3… 2… 1..._ " Sasha watched from the cameras as the entire building was suddenly engulfed in a blaze of positronic energy, with nothing left of it except for the crater where it once stood. " _Firing successful, scratch a whole bunch of Toasters._ "

" _And our headquarters. Picon is secure, at least_."

Five planets down. And the Cylons were holding their ground, only jumping in reinforcements to their captured worlds.

They weren't bothering to jump in raiding parties to attack Caprica, though she figured that was because the other interdictors keeping them from escaping. But that didn't explain the other colonies, as the other _Interceptor_ -Class ships weren't even ready for deployment, just the six.

She decided to be cautious, though she began issuing orders for three full Battlestar Groups to resupply and prepare for a combat jump to Earth.

* * *

 **Kaoshung, Earth**

* * *

Sasha didn't know, but the reason for the Cylons not jumping raiding parties was simple.

Cyrannus was just a distraction for the Colonials, to keep them from helping Earth.

And the strategy was working, as the Cylons managed to claim two of Earth's Mass Drivers in the first months of the war, alongside their unknown allies. Unfortunately, the people of Earth were _not_ making it easy for them. Even in Cylon-occupied Victoria and Kaoshung, the people of Earth rose up using whatever they could cobble together to fight back.

From remnants of the last two wars to ANCIENT rocket-propelled grenade launchers like the AT4 and RPG-32 to REALLY old RPGs like the RPG-7.

Age did not dull their lethality, as one group, armed with M224 mortars (leftovers from the old United States Army) and leftover AK-560 assault rifles as well as the RPGs, was about to prove.

"Ok, they can't take out all of our RPGs midair. Launch five at them, reload and get the fuck out. Then we go and hit them again. We gotta hold out for ZAFT, the Alliance, hell, I'll fuckin' take Orb or the Colonials at this point."

The rest of the group agreed with their leader before splitting up.

Centurions were not exactly stupid, but they weren't too bright, either: the 'spark' of brilliance that led to the uprising 70 years prior was left solely to the 0005 series of Centurions.

The new models...were dumb as a sack of hammers. They lacked the same level of originality their predecessors had, and were more for following the orders of the Humanoid models than making their own.

The insurgents set up their mortars as they prepared to barrage the Cylons with their artillery and rockets. "Wait… wait… NOW FIRE!"

88mm grenades were fired from their launchers, as well as 105s from the RPG-32s and mortar fire rained on the Centurions in the streets.

The machines returned fire, but there were too many shells to stop.

So they simply called for reinforcements with their final moments as the grenades hit.

One Centurion was left standing in the aftermath, missing both arms and a leg.

"NICE!" The cheering was shortlived as they heard the whine of turbine engines above as a trio of Raiders and a single Heavy moved in."Oh fuck, COVER!"

The fighters took cover within the buildings just as the Raiders began strafing runs upon them, attempting to soften them up as the HR moved in to deposit additional Centurions into the fight to force them out into the open.

Then death in the form of no fewer then six Cylon 30mm cannons opened fire, tearing into the buildings, turning some people into little more then puffs of red mist.

They were the lucky ones, as the leader of the force discovered as a Centurion cornered two of his people, who decided to dismember anyone they caught, pulling limbs from their sockets and beating them with their own limbs.

This made him freeze before a Centurion cornered him, marching menacingly as the monoeye traced back and forth like a metronome. He pulled out his OMNI Enforcer-issue 9mm, firing at it. The rounds did nothing. The gun almost clicked empty before he put it to his own head, firing the last round into his head.

The Cylons were bleeding for their occupation.

But the humans were bleeding for making them bleed.

* * *

Orb's first _Archangel Kai_ -Class assault carrier, the ODS _Daruma_ , made a lazy orbit around orb, passing by the government offices where Cagalli Yula Athha was busy trying to contain her ministers and try and turn them towards the war.

While Orb had returned to isolationism, sans being a Colonial ally, it was becoming more and more...outdated. Cagalli realized this.

Orb's policy of isolation, of not picking sides worked to its advantage when the largest issue was the growing divide between Naturals and Coordinators. It made them strong as they accepted the people that the rest of the EA and even ZAFT refused to allow live in their countries. Because of this, Orb made leaps and bounds in cultural and technological innovations which were the envy of the rest of the world.

Except maybe the Colonials, who took a look at their own technology and pulled with the Romans pulled with it, making it better, as they did with the _Archangel_ and the Dart.

However, times had changed ever since the Colonials and the Cylons arrived, and all that was left of LOGOS and Blue Cosmos left with Djibril. The new, reformed Earth Alliance lacked the old's vast corruption, and the PLANTs were getting closer and closer to becoming full-moderate, and may even become a member nation of the NEA. Already other former neutral nations like the Kingdom of Scandinavia and the Equilateral Union had already applied for membership.

All that was left now was Orb. While it had closer ties to ZAFT thanks to Lacus Clyne's leadership, and its alliance with the Colonials was still strong now that the Sieran Family was gone, it remained… _hesitant_ to rally with the Earth Alliance. Though she could understand why: it was the EA that invaded Orb years ago, killing many of their people just to claim their Mass Driver… Shinn Asuka's parents and sister being among them. Those kind of scars take time to mend.

Unfortunately, time was something they didn't have now. The Cylons were invading, and had already claimed two Mass Drivers - one being Kaohsiung practically right next door. And Orb can't simply wave the 'neutral' flag this time.

These Cylons didn't want peace or even control. They wanted to exterminate humanity - Natural, Coordinator or whatever. They _will_ come for Orb, and likely sooner rather than later.

"I understand that no one wants Orb to get dragged into ANOTHER war, but the facts are CLEAR." Cagalli said, looking at the ministers and family heads of Orb sitting before her. "Fact one: the Colonials are tied up in defending Cyrannus from the Cylons, leaving two battlestars, one of which is BARELY operational, to assist us. Fact two: the Cylons don't care whether or not we don't want to fight. The only thing protecting us from nuclear strikes are the N-Jammers we planted in the ground! Now, gentlemen, are we going to get off our asses and save our country, or do I have to sack all of you before declaring martial law to save my FUCKING PEOPLE from the murdering machines that have already killed three hundred thousand people in Sol alone?!"

The ministers couldn't exactly...argue with that. And if anyone was going to declare martial law and not act like a despot, it would be Cagalli.

"Representative, while we agree-" one of the ministers began to say, before suddenly one of the comms on Cagalli's desk rang. A priority channel.

"This is Attha, what is it?"

" _Ma'am, this is Captain Lizbeth of the_ Daruma." Came the speaker's voice. " _Long-range sensors are picking up Cylon's just outside Orb territorial waters, accompanied by Heavy Raiders. They'll be crossing over within 10 minutes. I think the war just arrived._ "

"And here comes the war. Gentlemen, ladies, to hell with isolationism. It's time, as Colonel Tigh would say, to get totally involved and kick some serious fraking ass. Daruma, is the Strike Rouge on board?"

"Yes, ma'am, but wouldn't the Akatsuki-"

"The Akatsuki doesn't have phase shift armor. The Cylons don't use beam weapons. I need kinetic protection, not energy."

The whine of Cylon turbine engines was heard as squadrons of Raiders and Cylon-built DINNs dove under the clouds.

"Well, I guess we're fighting after all."

* * *

 **Delta Canopis**

* * *

Two Galactica-Class battlestars were finally brought online and prepared for jump.

These two ships were newly-built, their keels laid no later then 5 days after Polaris' and the familiar design sped up their construction. But they were not Colonial, nor Galactica-Class.

They were two of Orb's first Izanagi-Class battlestars. While armed to the teeth with the same weapons as the refit Galactica prior to that disaster over Berlin, there were a number of differences.

The main one was that they used Orb-designed CIWS/missiles, though there were less Viper support facilities, those being transferred to the Nobusuma/Raptor and the Mobile Suits. Automation was also increased, having barely half the crew complement of a Galactica in Colonial service. Another change was the flight pods not needing to retract into the hull, as PSA reinforcement tied to the improved reactors.

The Colonials learned a lesson from Berlin and made sure no battlestar would go without the reinforcing, even if all of the new-build and refit Galacticas were based on the modified Tranche 4 production version, which exchanged the retracting flight pods for increased space for cargo, weapons and planes.

These ships also had levitator units, meaning there was no ship that could go up against them in Earth's atmosphere until the planned Mercury-based Izanami-Class and the Colonial Polaris was completed.

While the Colonials were rebuilding, it was ultimately the arms industry that came back to life first to feed the militaries of Earth with new warships to replace the ones the Colonials had blown apart during the Valentine Wars.

"Izanagi, _Port Control: you are clear for departure. Clear all moorings_."

" _Roger, Port control, moorings cleared. Spooling up FTL drives_." For their first mission, they would be ferrying a number of freshly-built CDF-01 Darts and CDF-02 Ramussas to Orb as well as their pilots, as their usual load of Astrays and Murasames were still on Earth.

Fortunately, the Cylons didn't know about Delta Canopis. Unknown to the Colonials, Cavil was using the Cylon base in the Veil to build his own forces up, but unlike the Colonials, he built up and launched them out immediately. The Cylons still thought most of their enemy's equipment was from either built on Earth or pre-Fall.

Cavil was a fucking idiot, in case you hadn't figured that out yet.

"Hime-no-nami, Port Control: you are clear for departure. Clear all moorings."

The second of the two Izanagi-Class battlestars launched without ceremony. They were at war.

There was no time for it. They would get formal ceremonies when the war was over. For now, though, it was time for the two battlestars to protect their homeland.

* * *

Cylon raiders flew low, practically grazing against the sea as they sped forward towards Orb's aquatic naval fleet, which fired CIWS and AA Missiles at the incoming craft before they could open fire. Thankfully they need not worry, as several Orb Astray's station atop them managed to gun down the Raiders before they could reach a proper firing distance.

The Cylons clearly were trying to attack Orb by surprise, it was lucky enough that the _Daruma_ picked them up before they arrived right atop of them. Now the machines had to face Orb head-on, which was bad news for the ill-prepared Cylons.

That did not mean this would be easy.

It would be long and bloody, as indicated when four cylon baseships jumped in and began raining missiles on everything.

They didn't bother asking how they could: Orb's military was sure of one thing.

They had no chance in winning this.

* * *

 **Ron the True Fan: Sucks to be Orb.**

 **117Jorn: Please, it'll suck to be the Cylons soon enough.**

 **Ron the True Fan: True enough. ON WITH THE PAIN!**

 **Ja Ne!**


	18. Chapter 17: Witch's Flight

**Orb - Kagurajima**

* * *

The baseship rained missiles as it hovered above the water, impacting the ground with the force equal to a battlestar's full armament, though the difference was that these were guided missiles.

Astrays, of the military and civilian models, were firing at them with 60mm machine guns that were designed for just such an occasion: shooting down Cylon missiles.

The Orb government just wasn't thinking that was going to be NOW.

The Baseship had taken its toll upon the island in its first few volleys, destroying a significant portion of Orb's capital. However once the CIWS defenses kicked on, it made the situation a bit more manageable as they intercepted the majority of the missiles - now the biggest threat were the rampant Raiders and Cylon-built mobile suits landing across the islands - more specifically trying to secure the Kaguya Mass Driver…

...and failing.

Unlike the EA, Orb's military had managed to recover much quicker thanks to Colonial aide, and even some help from ZAFT. And due to not having nearly as much territory or land to cover, their defenses were much more centralized meanwhile when the Cylons attacked, they were facing the full bulk of Orb's planetside military force, which consisted of many veterans from the past two wars.

They were also VERY lucky they had Cagalli, who, in the Strike Rouge, was directing Orb's military from the cockpit of her machine.

" _Madam Representative, we're running out of ammo and they're not running out of missiles! Permission to go on the attack_!"

"We don't have capital ships of our own to engage those baseships to distract them from our MS attack force!" The _Daruma_ was having a hard enough time keeping herself from getting blown to hell from the baseships and the _Tenryu_ wasn't a transatmo warship due to her rushed design.

" _Representative Athha, this is ODS_ Izanagi. _We just jumped into orbit. We're seeing a LOT of unknown contacts and four baseships in Orb territory. Orders_?"

Cagalli grinned. She loved it when things just came together like that. " _Izanagi_ , your atmo levitation device is working, correct?"

" _Yes Ma'am… we understand. We'll be there in a moment. All Hands, brace for turbulence and arm all weapons for anti-ship fire!_ "

Cagalli simply looked up where there was empty sky… before moments later, the ODS _Izanagi_ popped into existence right above the Baseships, dropping like a rock for a moment before the levitators kicked on, and in the second moment its gun batteries trained upon the closest Baseship, and opened fire.

The anti-capital ship missile batteries were knocked out, not that they would be useful pointed to shore.

One of the other baseships began turning, only for another battlestar to jump in from above, dropping like a rock. The Princess of the Waves was about to claim her first victim as she fell on the baseship, jumping away as close as she dared to get, leaving only five meters of clearance between them and the Cylon ship.

The spatial distortion tore the upper half of the baseship apart, causing it to explode internally before, after jumping, charged at the baseship at quarter speed. The _Nami-no-Hime_ impacted the baseship, her VPSA-coated hull tanking the hit before pushing the baseship away.

And towards another, more intact baseship.

"Brace for impact!"

The second Baseship didn't have the time to jump or evade, as the _Nami-no-Hime_ shoved the first into the second, grinding away its armor plating like a cheese grater.

The two baseships fell apart, crashing to earth in thundering explosions as the _Hime_ launched her Ramussas and Darts, coming to bear on the only other two baseships intact over Orb.

" _Ma'am, are those...Colonial_?!"

"No, General, those are Orb _Izanagi_ -Class battlestars! We bought them and they're worth every yen we spent on them!"

" _But...those are Colonial suits_!"

" _Yes, we are, General: Admiral Urei sends her regards and her apologies: BSGs 38, 41 and 50 are still resupplying and we could only get two jump-worthy warships in system. Which happen to be yours_."

Cagalli laughed. "No problem! Let's take them!"

The Strike Rogue - along with its entourage of escorting Murasame's and Astrays - flew back into the battle in the city, focusing fire on the Cylon mobile suits to clear out their homeland of their Chrome-planted infestation.

The duels above orb would become legends of the war.

But legends had a way of becoming mythic.

* * *

" _Ron, I need you at GENESIS Alpha_."

Ron FINALLY kicked the reactor, power flowing into the ship again. "Jaden, _Galactica_ is FALLING APART. I have to stay here! What in the hell is so important that you want me over there?!"

" _It's too important to talk over the wireless! Come ON, Ron! We NEED you over here_."

Ron sighed as he punched a bulkhead, adjusting his headset. "Fine, but this better turn the tide!"

" _Oh, it fucking WILL..._ " Jaden said with a dark chuckle. " _It will..._ "

"...you sound creepy when you talk like that."

" _And you don't?_ "

"Touche."

* * *

Jaden simply sat in a darkened hangar playing a game of Tetris as he awaited for Ron to arrive. ' _Should be coming in right about… now._ '

A Vent bursted open as Ron popped down. "Alright Jaden, clock's ticking. What is it?" He asked.

"Still in the market for a Girlfriend, Ron?" Jaden asked, holding up a remote.

"What the hell are you-"

"Because I just found you one," he clicked the switch, and the lights flashed to life… and revealed the single, most sexy mobile suit Ron had ever set eyes upon. "Her name… is Morgan."

The dull gray meant this thing was a VPSA-equipped beast and what a beast: Ron could see railguns on the 'skirt', a multiphase cannon, an antiship sword and all the weapons of the Freedom and Destiny.

All in a compact frame.

"Morgan?" "The Junk Guild calls her the JGX-515A. But I told them that's not exactly the right model number. ADFX-01 sounds better."

Ron stared at Jaden. "ADFX?" "Advanced Colonial Defense Fighter Experimental. Like the Dart, only...well..." The face was lit up.

A four-finned horn and a faceplate. The Morgan was a Gundam-class MS.

"Holy Ares. This thing's a refined version of the Destiny, Freedom and the Dart."

"I figured it would be the only way to create a machine perfectly matched for you," Jordan informed. "My own ride's in another hangar, you'll see her when we deploy. So… was it worth the trip over here, or is Morgan here gonna go home crying that the man of her dreams doesn't approve of her?"

"There'll be plenty of crying. From the Cylons."

* * *

Ron fixed his helmet as the Colonial seal appeared on the monitors with the Colonial version of the GUNDAM OS as the Morgan was loaded onto a catapult.

"This is Lt. Colonel Ronald Pinkerton, ADFX-01 Morgan, requesting clearance for takeoff."

GENESIS Alpha shook. "Granted! We got three baseships out there and we don't have enough firepower to kill them!"

"You do now." He gestured to the submonitor, giving a thumbs up before being sent into the black.

(BGM: StarRingChild by Aimer)

Another contact appeared launching from GENESIS Alpha, Ron glancing over to see another mobile suit colored dark red and black, with an almost evil-look to it. The IFF Reading it as 'JGX-00 Morningstar Gundam' as it flew alongside the Morgan.

" _Care to do the honors, Ron?_ " Jaden asked.

"Weapons free." Ron locked onto the Morgan's first victim, a Cylon CGUE, which Ron fired the HDEW-1 beam heavy machine gun at, sending dozens of pulses that killed it in a violent explosion.

"That should stir the hornet's nest." Ron looked at the sensor readouts, the overly bright colors confusing him for a few seconds.

'Note to self: replace with DRADIS.' "We got what looks like four squadrons of Raiders and two GINNs and CGUES per squad closing in, bearing 42 carom 220. I think."

"You think?"

"You installed a Terran sensor scanner in this thing, not DRADIS: I can barely make heads or tails of this."

" _Hit the red button below it._ " Jordan suggested, and Ron did so - and the sensors suddenly shut off, before reactivating and revealing a much more familiar DRADIS system online. " _You really think I would build a Colonial mobile suit and_ not _give it DRADIS? Especially one for YOU?_ "

"Could've warned me first. Reading confirmed: We got incoming. And they're firing!" The Raiders let loose a literal fuckton of missiles, all heading for the two Gundams. "All Junk guild and Colonial units: get behind GENESIS Alpha: we'll get these assholes in that thing's line of fire. Interdictor flight, standby to disengage IDF on my command: we need to take out those baseships!"

"Copy that, we're moving out. Good luck, sir."

The two machines let loose a volley of CIWS fire, but there was too many missiles to shoot down. "Any ideas?!"

"Hmm… try and draw more of them into GA's like of fire," Jaden suggested, smirking "That Cavil fuck and his buddies hate you, right?"

"Like a moth to a flame. Draw more of the fighters towards you: I'll make the baseships get closer together."

The Morgan transformed into MA mode and flew towards the three baseships, which continued to fire missiles at them.

"Hey, fraktards! Guess who! Come and get me!" The baseships then rushed forward, increasing their rate of fire.

Jaden, meanwhile drew the fighters and MSs closer to the baseships, lining up the shot. Once GENESIS Alpha fired, there wasn't going to be one Cylon unit left. They just had to time it right: the interdictor field had to go down just long enough for them to jump away, but not the Cylons.

"Come on you dumb robots!" Jadeh shouted, firing the waist-mounted railguns, blasting apart the first Heavy Raider to approach "You want breakfast? You gotta catch it! Bring it on!"

The Raiders and Mobile Suits chased him towards the baseships, where Ron was forcing them to try and gun him down with AA missile fire. They weren't succeeding.

"Come on, you frakers, come on..."

"Psycho, Interdictor: we're ready when you are."

"Baseships are in position! Jaden, the fighters?!"

"Ready to die!"

"Interdictor, shut the field off! GENESIS Alpha, FIRE!"

"SAYONARA BIOTCHES!" Jaden shouted, as moment later the Morningstar and Morgan vanished in a jump of FTL moments before the Interdictor kicked back online - trapping the ships in the GA's line of fire… as the Gamma Rays of the weapon lit up, and shot forward.

The light units evaporated, the baseships lasting only...slightly longer.

But the end result was the same: no Cylon or Librarian contacts.

"Glad that's over. The Cylons are probably going to avoid us for the next while."

"Oh, they will, ron...but we're going to them. And there's a few things I'd like to show Orb's forces while we skin those baseships."

"I like the way you think."

* * *

 **Orb**

* * *

A baseship crashed into the side of a mountain, the centurions being pancaked by the impact, though the ship was mostly intact.

Murasames modified to carry troop pods dropped them off at the hull breaches, storming the baseship to secure the ship's still functioning missile batteries. Once they were, power would be restored… and then they will turn the weapons back upon the Cylons in a fitting form of irony. With the two Colonial/Orb Battlestars overhead, the battle was quickly going badly for the Cylons as the Colonial warships rained down death and destruction upon the Chrome-plated machines.

The good times, however, were about to end, as six more baseships jumped into the atmosphere.

The Cylons were deverting from Cyrannus to attack Orb, the Colonies' sole real ally.

"Oh, COME ON!" Cagalli's dismay was shared by the entire armed forces.

Four baseships were hard enough. Seven, one being damaged or not?

This was BULLSHIT!

"Ok, fuck this! We can fix the radiation damage. Get the remote link to the N-Jammers and shut them off! Arm the Cylon nukes and shoot down those baseships!"

"We need your personal authorization code to shut them down, ma'am-" "DO IT!"

The launch tubes were quickly loaded with nuclear missiles, aimed at the baseships.

But before they could fire, one of the baseships was cleaved in twain by a Mobile Suit.

The wings of light belonging to the CMS-X05 Destiny, piloted by Shinn Asuka. "Representative Athha, disparate or not, nukes should never be used on a planet."

"Captain Asuka, when the hell did you get here?!"

"Officially, I'm with the Colonial Corps of Engineers on detached testing duty. And while I'm not a fan of Orb...it was my home once. I will NEVER let these toaster bastards fuck it over!"

Cagalli couldn't help but smile a bit. Even Shinn was putting aside his disagreements to fight against a common foe. She was right, it was time for Orb to drop the isolationism. "Then help keep the skies clear, Captain Asuka." She said, "This battle's far from over!"

"Good thing I brought help. Luna?!" Another baseship suddenly lost two of its' radial arms as the CMS-X04 Freedom, piloted by Lunamaria Hawke, blasted it from above.

"Wait a second, the Freedom was blown to shit during the last war! I was there for it!"

"The CCE rebuilt this mean motherfraker! And the UPGRADED it, too!" Luna cried out as the Freedom spun around and deployed _all_ of its weapons - including the DRAGOON's from the Strike Freedom. "TASTE THE RAINBOW MOTHERFRACKERS!"

The Freedom unleashed a stream of beam and railguns upon the Cylons above in a rainbow of destruction upon the Cylon Raiders, CGUE's, and Baseships.

"...'Taste the rainbow'? Did you just quote the Skittles tagline?"

On a submonitor, Luna had a shiteating grin. "What can I say? It fits!" Cagalli thought about it.

"You're right. TASTE THE RAINBOW, YOU CHROME-PLATED FUCKS!"

Sadly, though they had three nuclear-powered Gundam-class machines (the Rouge having been retrofit by the Colonials) they were lacking in one thing: numbers.

The Cylons had over five thousand Raiders to throw at them. And they were not above suicide.

Shinn hacked apart another CGUE, all of the faults in the ZGMF-X42S being corrected in the Colonial redesign. It had all the strengths of the original machine and most of the weaknesses were gone as well.

The only major weakness was the pilot: the original cockpit was still installed while the Freedom's had the holoband-equipped version. Something to be fixed _after_ the war to be sure. But for now, it was something Shinn had to deal with until later. It wasn't the worst thing that could happen.

The Destiny sped towards the the next hovering Baseship, the anti-ship sword at the ready to cleave the vessel into pieces. The ship fired its array of missiles at the Gundam, however they may as well of been throwing rocks at him as he easuly dodged or batted the missiles away on his approach.

"Ok, this is getting fucking annoying!"

"Ya think?! There's too many targets to shoot at! Most of them are going to get through!"

And while they had two battlestars, they wanted to lessen any civilian casualties to almost nothing.

Thankfully, they were getting more help.

"Surprise, motherfrakers!" Another squadron of raiders was blown to hell by another fighter coming in from above, which looked like a slightly bulkier version of the Dart before it transformed into a hybrid of the Freedom and Destiny. "I heard you guys needed a hand."

"Colonel Pinkerton!"

" _AND ME!_ " A Baseship exploded before another machine bursted from its insides, being none other than the Morningstar. " _Heeeere's Jaden!_ "

"Commander Takeo! What happened at GENESIS Alpha?" "Jaden fired his lazor, to quote an ancient Terran meme. Blew up three baseships. He also built this monster for me. Gonna have to tune the living frak out of it when I get her back to Galactica, but she's kicking some serious ass. Speaking of serious ass..." The Morgan transformed into MA mode, flying towards the Raiders. "I'll line them up, you shoot them down! COME AND FRAKING GET ME!"

The Raiders - having _NO_ idea what they were getting into - complied as they began chasing after the Morgan, assuming the larger MS would be an easier target than its smaller mass-produced Dart counterpart.

Sadly, they were quite wrong: the Morgan might have been slightly bigger, but due to Jaden's rather ingenious designs, it was faster and more agile then the dart, meaning he could outrun them and actually spin around to fire back on occasion. Their mistake as the other Gundams fired on the Raiders, blowing them to hell and gone.

Jaden, meanwhile, was going fishing. But he wasn't going after fish.

He was hunting starfish.

Spinning and twirling around the horde of missiles being fired at him, Jaden simply grinned as he drew out a beam saber, redirecting power into it as the beam extended to three times its regular length. "Let's carve the turkey!" He said, before stabbing the blade into the first Baseship, and began dragging the blade across the hull of the starfish-shaped vessel, slicing it apart piece by piece.

The baseship tried to jump, but failed.

"Oh, I'm sorry, didn't notice the Raptors we brought?"

Flying near the Izanagi were four Nomasumas.

Fit with interdictor drives.

The Cylons began to fear as Jaden carved their ship apart and the other Gundams slaughtered their Raiders and sister baseships. There was no surviving this. They were going to die a very painful death.

And Jaden was going to ENJOY every second of it as the baseship slowly fell apart, almost bleeding.

Very symbolic of how the Third Cylon War was going. The Librarians could only do so much to put the Cylons at MS level. They lacked the experience and the willingness to embrace the new technologies that the Colonials had.

And now they were paying for their smug inflexibility. They were losing.

* * *

 **Ron the True Fan: Well, that got dark.**

 **117Jorn: Not so much as Dark as it is KICK ASS and KARMA.**

 **Ron the True Fan: True, but taking sadistic glee in hacking apart a living being, which a baseship kinda is? Rather dark. Still, we're close to the end.** _ **Galactica's**_ **and this war.**

 **Ja Ne!**


	19. Chapter 18: Back in Control

**Caprica orbit**

* * *

With eight out of twelve planets secured and the other four locked down, it was time to unleash the might of the Colonial Fleet on the Sol System.

62 Battlestars, 480 cruisers and frigates and over one thousand corvette-class ships were spinning up their FTL drives for the long jump to earth.

"This is Admiral Urei: prepare for combat jump! As soon as we're there, find a non-allied target and blow it to hell!"

"All ships drive are spooled. Just give us the word, Ma'am."

"Initiate Jump!" One by one, the starships of the colonial fleet winked out of existence from Cyrannus, with the last vessel to leave being the _Mercury_.

* * *

 **Earth orbit**

* * *

The Librarian Works ships were on par with the Terran forces, their mobile suits akin to their best MP machines.

What they were designed to fight was Earth's war machines.

(BGM: Two Steps from Hell: Armada)

They were not meant to fight battlestars.

As proven when hundreds of Colonial warships jumped in, launching Vipers and Darts, over forty interdictor battlestars appearing in-system.

The sudden arrival of so many colonial vessels caught the Librarians off-guard, along with their Cylon allies as the were forced to scramble whatever they had to intercept the new arrivals. Not that it would really matter.

The colonials were back in control.

* * *

 **Kaoshung**

* * *

Cylon Centurions marched through the streets, shooting into barricades, where people shot back.

The Centurions were about to get screwed, however, as five Mk VIIE Vipers swooped in, firing their 30mm cannons at the Cylons.

"Were those..." "Vipers! The Colonials are here!" The Cylons were beyond screwed, as their Raiders, once uncontested masters of the skies above Earth, were now faced with their ultimate foe: an experienced pilot in a Viper.

And with over 5 years of experience, the Vipers had the unquestionable edge.

"Resistance forces, this is Captain Mitchells, Colonial Marine Corps. If anyone's still alive, standby: help's on the way."

"This is Zhuan Chao, its about fucking time you guys showed up!" The resistance leader shouted. "Keep those skies clear for us, alright?"

"It's done. Marines will be landing in a few minutes!" A SIM-6 Archer slammed into another Raider, sending it slamming into a highrise.

Rhinos spammed Titanomachia in all directions, missiles and gunfire danced in the skies before the Amaterasu jumped into the atmosphere, launching Darts. It was time for blood.

* * *

 **Lake Victoria**

* * *

The Marines were lightly armed, but they were fast and had anti-Cylon weapons.

"This is Lieutenant Jameson, Colonial Marine Corps! Anyone out there?!"

There was a long silence on the radio, before a voice came through " _About bloody time you blokes showed up!_ " An english voice shouted. " _We've got Cylons up our asshole and through our mouths over here! Get your arses moving and BLAST THOSE BLOODY BASTARDS INTO DUST!_ "

"We're on it! Blue team, Red team, get moving! Secure the control buildings for the mass driver. Gold and silver, search the driver and see if the bastards planted explosives on it. Black and white, with me: we've got civilians to rescue."

Above, five full squadrons of Viper 7Es flew BarCAP, slaughtering Raiders.

The Siderwinder squadrons were happy to see them, putting their mixed bag of death tricks together to 'amuse' the Cylons.

To their chrome-lined graves.

* * *

 **Orb**

* * *

"Jaden, I've got more contacts, bearing 248 carom 348, angels 48 and dropping like a rock."

"Mind translating that into normal-speak?"

"Yeah, yeah." Ron looked at the coordinates as the DRADIS read out the IFFs. "Well, about fraking time. THey're Colonial: three Viper squadrons, two Rhinos and a flight of Darts! Cavalry's here!"

"Finally!" Jaden shouted, "Was wondering when they'd decide to show up to the party! Now we can kick this thing into high gear!"

"This is interdictor battlestar Blockade: interdictor field engaged. No more jumping around."

"Understood, Blockade! Jaden, we have assholes to slaughter!" Ron had no issues killing these Cylons now.

They were not his grandchildren.

"This is Rhino 42: firing for effect!" Archers and heatseekers were spammed in mass numbers, all homing on Cylon targets before the Titan killers were launched off.

"Colonel, I'm seeing two unknowns, one with Colonial IFF, one Junk guild. That you, sir?"

"Copy, this is the ADF-X01 Morgan. New tech demonstrator. We have Cylons to take out: can you spare a few more machines to replace me and Jaden? We have to get back to Galactica."

" _Done and done - reinforcements are already on the way._ " Sasha said, "Galactica's _still holding together, right?_ "

"Barely: the reactor's failing. Jaden and I have to pull the damn thing off the grid."

"Colonel, the reactor is built into the frame of that ship. You can't just yank it out!" "You think I don't know that? Admiral, this is Galactica's swan song. It would take a full reconstruction to get her back in full fighting form."

And Adama refused to put the old girl through that again. If Galactica was going to die, it would be in battle.

"So what's the solution?"

"We use three of his helium 3 reactors after evacing non-essential personnel from the sections we're going to put them in. It's makeshift, but what else is new?"

"Makeshift is what the Junk Guild makes a living out of," Jaden chuckled. "We'll keep _Galactica_ breathing for as long as we can."

" _Copy that you two… keep her in the fight,_ Mercury _out._ "

Two more Amaterasu-Class heavy cruisers joined the fight, adding their squadrons to the fray.

"The old man better be having a better time of this then we are. This is downright boring."

* * *

 **Battlestar Galactica**

* * *

While aging and failing, Galactica was still twice as threatening as any ship in the Fleet, as the Librarian Works destroyer _Acidalium_ was about to discover.

And as she couldn't jump away, there was no way they could escape from the bucket. But while this bucket was rusty and old, it was sharp and jagged, making it MORE dangerous.

"Captain, orders?" the 2IC of the destroyer, Nahe Herschel asked, as the _Acidalium_ shuddered from another strike from the _Galactica_.

Captain Ergnes Brahe sighed. He had thought this was all for the betterment of mankind, not just for Mars. They thought they could actually win against the Colonials, against the Earth…

...but despite his tactical skills, and those of his peers… the Colonials liked to _cheat_.

And there was no greater cheater then William Adama, commander of Galactica.

His ship was falling apart! Half the guns weren't working, the FTLs were fucked and there was no armor to speak of!

Yet that ship KEPT FIGHTING. Kept WINNING.

Another flak round impacted the destroyer's hull, crippling the engines. They could kill him and his crew in seconds if they wanted to.

"Patch us in to Galactica's comms."

"For...what reason?"

"...to offer terms of our surrender." He said, causing the crew to all look at him in shock. "Look! We've been fucked, people! No way to cherry-pick around it! Eos fucked us, Cavil fucked us… we could've just stayed at Mars and be happy there, but NO! We just HAD to piss off the Colonials and the entire fucking Earth! Hail them, we're _DONE._ "

The comms officer activated the transceiver before another flak shell impacted the ship. "BSG-75 flagship Galactica, this is the Librarian Works destroyer _Acidalium_ transmitting on all frequencies. We surrender. Repeat, this is Acidalium to Galactica: we surrender."

* * *

Adama looked at the Acidalium on DRADIS. "Confirmation?" "They're powering down their weapons and engines, sir: heat signatures are dropping to below combat levels." Adama nodded at Gaeta. "Colonel Tigh, organize a MarDet Raptor team. I want that ship secured and under our control. And I want to know where the hell these people came from."

Tigh went on his way, knowing not to frak this up: these were the first POWs they had in this entire conflict.

They were needed alive.

Dualla reactivated the comm. "Acidalium, Galactica: maintain your position. Marine Detachment Raptor is en route. Resist in any way and we will resume fire. Repeat, MarDet Raptor en route, stand down all security teams."

"Copy, Galactica. We stand down."

"Two DRADIS Contacts… Sir, I've got the Morgan and Morningstar approaching."

"Finally..." Adama picked up the Wireless. "Pinkerton, what's the situation?"

"Orb is secure: we got Colonial units swarming all over the place. Cylons should be cleared off the planet in a matter of days. Cyrannus is similarly secured: only four planets to go and the Cylon presence there is light, compared: it's like Cavil built 500 baseships and 1500 support ships and just shoved them in our general direction instead of planning this out!"

"I don't think he ever had a plan beyond 'kill all humans'."

" _True. We're just here to stash our machines, pick up a heavy shuttle and head back to GENESIS Alpha to get the reactors._ "

"Good. While you do that, we'll be scavenging the ship that just surrendered." Adama said, "Then we can find out where these bastards are coming from… and kick them in the ass."

* * *

The Marines had to bust a head or three, but other then that, they were shipped from the destroyer quickly and quietly. Adama wasn't surprised about them being human.

Nor the fact that they knew about Cavil.

"I only want to know the answer to one question." Adama stared at the bridge staff, who were all cuffed in the conference room. "Where the frak are you people from?"

"We'll only answer that if you can avoid getting anyone not directly involved in the fighting killed, Admiral: we have civilians."

"And how many civilians did you people kill back on Earth?"

"Correction: _Cylons_ , Admiral." Brahe said, sighing. "My people have focused on military installations… I try to command the Cylons to do the same, but… their leader Cavil just outright hates humanity in any shape and form. He overrides any commands I would give them… and Eos doesn't punish him for it, since in his eyes we 'need' them for some reason... "

Adama thought about it. THeir leader was fraking insane. Kinda like Adar before the bombs fell.

And Cavil...there was only one 'repentant' Cavil, who offed himself out of resurrection range as some sort of penance.

"I won't intentionally hit your civilians." The lights flickered before Ron's voice chimed over the PA. " _Reactor offline, emergency power engaged. Installing H3 reactor one_."

"But you have to realize that I will bring this war back to your homes. That means people are gonna get hurt. I'll keep the deaths as low as I can...but we can't save everyone. Where are you from?"

The captain took a deep breath. "...we're from the Mars Sphere." he informed.

"Mars? THat's literally next door to Earth. How the frak-"

"It's easy to hide a fleet on the dark side of a planet, Admiral. You did it yourself. And most of the Cylon ships come from some place called the Veil, some remote star system in the middle of nowhere. But Cavil and Eos launched their attack too early: we weren't ready, though supposedly, neither were you."

"Where would Eos and Cavil be?"

"Likely one of three places," He said, "Either one of the militarized moon fortresses of Phobos or Deimos, or Headquarters built within and around the Olympus Mons volcano. All three are heavily fortified."

That left only one problem.

* * *

"Ok, hook up the secondary grounding cable now." Jaden shoved the cable in before lights came on at full power.

"Ok, why the hell is that reactor putting out as much power as THREE of mine? They're more effeciant-"

"And smaller. Yours are single-core reactors. Galactica's main nuclear drive has four rated for over 6000 gigawatts each, while these reactors have enough for just over 6500."

"But they're nuclear."

"And we've been in space for two thousand years. We have experience in making advanced nuclear reactors and the only reason we don't use helium is because our gas giant doesn't HAVE it. It's a ball of hydrogen."

"Hey, as long as it works, I don't fucking care." Jaden muttered, glancing around the now modified innards of the _Galactica_. "Only been here for a few years… and even I could tell she's seen better days..."

"It's her last days. I can give her one good jump. After that...she's not coming back from this battle."

"Hey, she can take it." "No. She can't. I know this ship better then you do: Galactica has one final battle ahead of her. After that, Polaris will have to take her place."

The first of the 3.5 Generation battlestars was still safe at Jupiter, guarded by the first and only third generation battlestars of the Columbia II-Class. She wasn't ready yet.

But she would.

* * *

With the arrival of the Colonials, across the Earth sphere from the PLANT's to the moon the now-confirmed Martians and Cylons were being forced to fall back or be destroyed. The Cylons - like idiots - went down fighting, knowing they would simply resurrect. While the Martians would either retreat or surrender.

Ultimately though, the Battle of Earth had reached its conclusion. And now, they knew where their enemy was: Mars.

Lacus Clyne stood with President Copland and Premier Khernakov of the Earth Alliance, with Cagalli standing beside Admiral Adama. "Admiral, the Earth's suffered massive casualties in the attacks. I am not willing to risk further loss of life."

"Get of your fucking high horse, Copland: they didn't attack us just to say they're here, they did it to kill us! The PLANT's might've suffered, but we're ready to go, Adama. Just say the word."

Cagalli scowled at the plotting table. "Orb will send as much as she can spare, Admiral. We owe you that much."

"The PLANT's suffered greatly in Cylon Raids… but if we don't strike back, they will simply regroup and attack again - and with greater numbers." Lacus admitted. "And they'll come back even stronger. We need to finish this: here and now."

The EA president sighed "We… will spare what we can," he said, "But we took big hits from the Cylons… hell when they attacked, we haven't even finished recovering from the _Colonials_ strikes. It won't be much."

"That's why I'm here." All turned to the until-then silent leader of the Colonial Corps of Engineers, Admiral Zeus Avalonia. "President Roslin has authorized me to offer you all an arms deal: after this is over, we will begin selling you...battlestars."

"...Battlestars."

"We can build more ships then we can crew. We build them, we sell them to your militaries at a discounted price. You need warships and you need firepower."

It was a good deal, counting the one made before this shit began where they would build over two-thirds of their fleet back up: most of the ships were still at Delta Canopis, just waiting to come to Earth.

"We'll send as much as we can too," Lowe said, chosen as the representative for the Junk Guild while Jaden was away. "We'll keep all your ships working as long as we can. "

Adama closed his eyes. This had been a brutal war. "Return to your ships. It'll take a few hours to marshal up the fleet."

Copland sighed. "I'll head back to Earth with the Premier. Madam Representative?"

"I'll be taking command of the Kusanagi for the battle, Mister President. I suspect Lacus, over Kira's objections, will be joining us on the Eternal."

Lacus nodded. She couldn't keep away, not when the fate of the world was at stake.

* * *

72 hours. That was all they needed to assemble for this final strike. Orbiting around the Ptolemaeus base was a massive armada of ships, the bulk of which were Colonial, but among their numbers were Earth Alliance, Orb, ZAFT and Junk Guild vessels added to the mix, from the smallest of patrol ships to the largest of dreadnought - all of them formed up around the true flagship of the fleet: _Galactica_.

Adama stood at the helm of his warship. "Dee, put me through to the fleet." Dualla nodded before securing the uplink.

"You're on, sir."

He picked up a handset, holding it like a CB mic. "All allied ships, this is Galactica. We are preparing for combat jump to Mars, to strike at the enemy fleet." He paused. As important as every ship was...they wouldn't be here if it weren't for the Old Girl. And if Galactica could lead them to hell, it would fraking lead them back from it. "Just so there'll be no misunderstandings later... _Galactica_ has seen a lot of history, gone through a lot of battles. This _will_ be her last. She will not fail us if we do not fail her. If we succeed in our mission, _Galactica_ _ **will**_ bring us home. If we don't... it doesn't matter anyway. Action stations!"

" _This is_ Dominion _: we're ready for jump, Admiral_!"

"Archangel, _standing by, FTL drives spooled up_."

"Amaterasu, _weapons armed. We're ready, Admiral Adama_."

"Schwarzkopf, _armed and ready Admiral_."

"Avenger, _ready to kick the tires and light the fires_!"

"Kusanagi, _standing by_."

" _This is Lacus Clyne on the_ Eternal." Adama rolled his eyes as he prepared for Lacus' sappy speech. " _We are standing by_." And wasn't HE surprised by that.

"Mercury, _ready_."

"Interceptor, _online: interdictors active_."

"Legacy, _guns primed, Admiral_."

"Athena, _plasma cannons armed_."

Adama closed his eyes as the ships called in.

He felt the flight pods retract into his ship before opening them.

"All ships, JUMP!"

* * *

 **117Jorn: THE FIIINAAAAL COUNTDOWN! DODODODO DODODODODO DODODODOOOO!**

 **Ron the True Fan: ...I seriously do not know where that comes from, but it's getting a BIT annoying. Anyways, the final battle has arrived. Galactica will not be coming back. But she will give them hell before she goes!**

 **Ja Ne!**


	20. Chapter 19: Ares, Bringer of War

**Mars - Olympus Mons**

* * *

Olympus Mons, the largest volcano and mountain in the Sol system.

It was now long extinct thanks to Eos, but that mattered little: it made the perfect base of operations, as a hardened mountain could take nuclear explosions dozens of times over, Olympus Mons more so due to its' massive size. And with all of the reinforcements that had been made to further strengthen the volcano, with defensive structures and weapons, this mountain was easily the most heavily guarded location in the entire system.

"We've lost our footholds in the Earth Sphere."

"And whose fault is that, Eos?! Your forces were steamrolled by the Colonials!"

"And your forces didn't hold them back in Cyrannus. You told me that the Colonials wouldn't be able to rebuild their military forces for another decade, yet they have twice as many ships as they deployed during the Second Valentine War. You didn't have enough ships: you accelerated their growth, but they didn't have the protection against their guns, not to mention you refused to adapt! You didn't accept any technologies I offered beyond the most BASIC of Mobile Suits! Your _pride_ stymied our entire war effort!"

Before Cavil could begin yelling back, alarms went off.

"Oh, shit. The Colonials found us."

Eos sighed "Be thankful I planned contingencies for you _idiocy_ , Cavil." He said, standing up. "I suggest you prepare for battle. There will be no escape here, we shall either crush the Colonials here over Mars, or thousands of years of planning will be for nought."

"It won't be for nothing. Not if that weapon of yours is worth a damn."

* * *

A baseship was impaled by a full volley of plasma sabots from Galactica's swingfire cannons, exploding as the battlestar flew through the exploded debris field.

"Come to bearing 42, carom 324, give that baseship a full broadside. I want those baseships knocked out!" Dualla relayed the orders as fast as Adama gave them to all ships, clearing the airspace for a new mode of warfare: interdiction.

The _Interceptor_ -Class interdictor battlestars could stop jumping ships, but also restrict their movement, forcing them to jump wherever the commander wanted them.

For example...

* * *

" _Jaden,_ Interceptor _is pinpointing a position: Bearing 254 carom 45, 5 kilometers from your position. Target and fire on my mark_!"

Jaden looked at the designated coordinates. "Uh, Ron? There is literally nothing over there." He said, tapping the DRADIS. "I mean nothing - and I modded this thing to pick up _stealthed_ units if the Cylons actually grew brains and copied the Blackbird and Blitz's specs."

A baseship then jumped into view, as Jaden quickly checked. That thing was in another position!

"FIRE!" He didn't question it as he unleashed fire on the Cylon warship, scoring direct hits on the missile bays, causing secondary explosions that began to tear the baseship apart.

"Ok, did you guys suddenly get the ability to see the future?"

" _You could say that. The interdictor drive doesn't just stop you from jumping. It can force you to a position of_ our _choosing_."

"...What."

" _I know, I didn't know until a few hours ago! I decided to test it in combat! Seems it worked_!"

"...Okay, now I am _not_ one to usually complain about groundbreaking technologies like that," Jaden began, "But that, _that_ … is some major haxor cheating right there. "

"There's a reason we brought all of the Interceptors: it's more of a power-sucker then a standard interdictor field. So we had to use more ships."

So that was why they dragged 60 battlestars to Mars when six were all they needed. Adama must've wanted to have them forced into the gunsights of the bigger gunned battlestars.

Still, he wasn't going to complain: they tried to jump, they'd get blown to hell.

"Well… either way, we've got our work cut out for us." Jaden said, looking at the map of the battlefield. "That intel was pretty spot on...Phobos and Deimos have been turned into gigantic orbital fortresses… makes Jachin Due look like the forts I made when I was 10. And the fucking mountain on the surface looks just as mean."

" _Ideas?_ "

"Well, I don't think nukes alone will cover it… " He said, watching as a Baseship was ripped to shreds by a pair of _Valkyrie_ Battlestars. "Neither would a standard bombardment. We don't have the resources to support a prolonged siege from orbit. We need to find the snakes and cut their heads off and fast, or else we're gonna be gridlocked into a stalemate."

"Agreed. That mountain's been fortified for a reason, so it has to be their main GHQ. Still, we can take the asteroids with ease. Doesn't answer the question as to why they bothered installing triangulation-" Alarms went off in both Mobile Suits as a swarm of enemy machines went towards them, firing machine guns and beam rifles, the latter being much more rare.

"Looks like the Cylons are still as egotistical as ever!"

"What's that supposed to mean?"

Ron shot down a leading GINN, speeding off as Jaden broke left. "They don't like using technology they didn't make themselves! It's why those baseships use missiles we can't!"

Jaden didn't get why. THe Colonials adapted to Terran tech quickly and painlessly, seeing the need. They even improved on it in some places: Jaden had a hard time figuring out how Ron solved the power problem with the Mirage Colloid on Raven stealth fighters, for example.

So why did the Cylons, Ron's 'grandchildren' in a sense, refuse to use technology they didn't develop? It didn't make sense for a machine not to adapt.

"Whoever's running the show for the Cylons must be an idiot." Jaden said, Slicing a Cylon GINN in half. "Even the fucking EA realized they needed mobile suits to counter ZAFT's early on during the first war. These guys… they're just fucking idiots. Even _with_ resurrection tech, you'd think after being burned, slashed, gutted and mutilated by beam weaponry for all this time they would've sucked their pride in and adapted… they _are_ your descendants after all technically…"

"As far as I'm concerned, these aren't my grandkids! The Threes, Sixes and Eights are! The rest can go hang themselves as far as I care!"

Jaden groaned. "You've just saying that so any kids I have with a Cylon you can automatically call yourself Grampa Ron."

"Oh, that's just a bonus."

* * *

Adama watched the DRADIS screen as he looked at the battle. The Cylons were trying to jump, but ended up in the firing lanes of up to four battlestars and heavy cruisers.

"Looks like Pinkerton's interdictors are gonna make this easy. Idiots are jumping into the firing line." Some baseships even jumped on top of one another.

The explosions were pretty enough to watch.

"Admiral, the Cylons are sending out a large force of corvettes and frigates! They're CBDR with the interdictors!"

"Move us into position!" Adama barked, "Don't let a single one get through! Mow them down!"

The _Galactica_ positioned itself between the Cylons and the Interdictors, as it unleashed a fury of its own upon the lighter Cylon vessels, bombarding them with their 600cm cannons.

One Lich-Class corvette changed course, heading for the aging, dying battlestar.

"Sir, we have a ship inbound, CBDR!" "Shoot it down!"

Flak exploded around the corvette, joined by missiles and the occassional 600cm shell, causing it to spit fire from a hull breach. Geate looked at the DRADIS in horror. "Sir, it's not making a mock charge!" Tigh's eyes widened. "It's gonna fraking ram us."

Adama looked at the helm. "Take evasive action!"

The _Galactica_ began to adjust its course - avoiding a full-fledged collision, however the Lich still hit the vessel around the back of the ship - ripping along its hull, and hitting both ends of the flight pods causing the whole ship to shudder.

"Report!"

"Sir, the Lich grazed against our backs - damage control teams reporting heavy damage to the flight pod retractors!" Gaeta reported.

Tigh snarled. "We can't retract the pods. We can't retract the pods, we can't jump without risking damage to the rest of the ship!"

"No wonder Pinkerton made sure no other battlestar needed that feature." It made the Galactica-Class a novelty with those flight pods. They added rigidity. Ron saw them as a liability. If the ship couldn't retract them, the spatial distortion would warp the ship to the point of destruction.

The Valkyrie and Mercury didn't have that feature: the only battlestars with it were the Galactica-Class and even certain refits deleted the need for it, like the Interceptor and Galactica-Class Tranche 4 and onward.

"Any other damage?"

"No sir. All batteries and CIWS are functioning, and the pods themselves can still launch and receive Vipers and Raptors."

Adama nodded. She can still fight. "Then get us back into the fight! Ahead full!"

* * *

Sasha looked at the photos on one of the submontors. The massive gashes in the port side of Galactica were going to jam the retraction system. And since it wouldn't work with one half damaged, Galactica wasn't leaving the Mars Sphere.

"Can they fix it?" "Not in combat. It'll take days at least, even for Pinkerton."

Sasha slammed her fist against the plotting table as an unguided missile slammed into her ship.

"Ma'am, I'm picking up a massive heat bloom from the surface!"

"Did someone fire-" Sasha began to say, before suddenly one of their Battlestars suddenly winked off of the DRADIS.

"Ma'am! We just lost the _Vissari!_ "

"WHAT?!" Sasha shouted, "They weren't even in combat! They were in reserve!"

"Ma'am, another heat ploom - SHIT! WE LOST THE _MARATHON!_ "

"What the fuck is going on?! Give me a fucking visual!" Sasha shouted.

"Visuals coming in now from Raven's… by the gods..."

 **BGM "Megalith Agnus Dei" - Ace Combat 4 Soundtrack**

Sasha looked at the images… the top of Olympus Mons seemed to have parted ways, revealing what could only be described as four enormous, multi-kilometer long rails emitting from the mountain, pointed up at space as they smoked from their recent discharges.

Any idiot could tell what this was.

It was an anti-orbital surface-based Railcannon system.

Two of their ships were destroyed in one shot.

"Frak."

* * *

Cavil grinned as he watched a Valkyrie-Class battlestar's 'head' tumble in the void.

With the modified Gadismehg Panzer system, that cannon could hit anywhere in the Sol System, though its' range was only practical to the Earth Sphere.

"Target Galactica! I want Adama dead!"

"Not yet. Let's let him watch as we pick apart his fleet. One ship at a time. Target the battlestar Valkyrie."

The operators locked onto the warship, but it jumped away.

"Damn. Continue fire. I want nothing but debris in orbit."

"Shoot. _GALACTICA!_ " Cavil Growled, "Her pods are jammed open! They can't jump without breaking her damned back! Kill Adama and the entire fleet will fall apart!"

"No. I want Adama to see his fleet burn first. Galactica's going nowhere."

"And you said MY pride stymied our efforts?!" Eos glared at Cavil. "Galactica is crippled, therefore we can pick it apart at our leisure. As such, I am going to pick his fleet apart one ship at a time. I don't want to kill him, Cavil. I want to BREAK him."

"FUCK. BREAKING HIM!" Cavil shouted, as he actually _punched_ Eos away, before he began manning the controls himself, adjusting the firing arc of the closest Railcannon. "He needs to fucking die! THEY ALL NEED TO FUCKING DIE NOW!"

The two began to fight, Galactica's fate in their hands as the cannon fired.

* * *

"INCOMING!" The Valkyrie-Class Tupor was blown apart by a railcannon slug, the wreckage veering towards Pegasus.

Lee looked to the helmsman. "TAKE EVASIVE ACTION!"

"Too late, Commander: ALL HANDS, BRACE FOR IMPACT!"

The 'head' slammed into Pegasus, ripping turrets out of their mounts and causing massive damage as it was dragged into the port flight pod, tearing the pod apart.

The crew was thrown around, glass in CIC broke. In short, Pegasus was out of the fight.

"Damage report!"

"Half of our starboard turrets are offline, damage control reports - Frak! The port pod's been torn open!"

"In other words?!" Apollo asked.

"We're fucked if we stay in the fight, sir!" Hoshi looked at the optical readouts. "Sir, that gun is turning in our direction!" "Take power from weapons and feed it to the engines! FTL status!" "As fucked as the rest of the ship, sir!"

"TAKE EVASIVE ACTION!"

* * *

Cavil finally forced Eos away, targeting _Galactica_ manually. One shot is all he needed.

Eos grappled at him again, forcing the turret to shift towards Pegasus before firing.

* * *

Hoshi literally shit his pants. "INCOMING!" The Mercury-Class ship began to accelerate and turn, but no matter what, they were going to get hit.

Pegasus was wrenched to oneside as the starboard flight pod was literally blown off the ship, the shell en route for the Earth Sphere.

Which, five minutes after firing, destroyed Maius 3 and 4.

"GET US THE HELL OUT OF HERE!" Apollo shouted as the entire ship shuddered.

* * *

"SON OF A PROTESTANT WHORE!" Jaden shouted, looking at what was happening to _Pegasus_. "Okay, I fucking take it back! I _don't_ want the Cylons to fucking adapt! We need to fucking take down that cannon!"

" _Problem with that: it's got a planetary-grade positron reflector. Even nukes aren't getting through that_." "What about a battlestar going in at full-bore?"

" _Jaden, I know what you're thinking, but even if we can evac_ Pegasus _in a speedy amount of time, we'd STILL be unable to get through_." Jaden then looked at a Dart, now missing an arm.

"What about FTLs?"

" _We can jump in an attack force, but we have to drop the interdictors first! And none of our big ships can fit into that_!"

"We used a Raptor to bring in two Vipers at Djerba." Jaden said. "Can we do a lot of that?"

"... _get me volunteers and I'll start the jump calculations_."

"You'll get e'm," Jaden grinned as he switched comms. "Calling all units, we're about to commit a very risky FTL Jump to place us right under that fracking Railgun's shields! I need Volunteers to come with us, and LOTS of them! Who wants to kick these fuckers in the ass on the surface?!"

A moment passed. " _This is the Orb 4th Mobile Suit Tactical Wing: we'll need a squadron of Raptors to bring us down there_!"

" _Colonial 47th Tactical Fighter squadron, attached to the Battlestar_ Tupor _, requesting permission to avenge our ship_!"

Dozens of calls went out: Colonial, Orb, ZAFT and Alliance.

The Cylons did the impossible and united Natural and Coordinator, Terran and Colonial.

Jaden couldn't help but chuckle "Alright, rally up on the Morningstar!" He called out, before contacting Ron. "Hey Ron! I got your volunteers!"

"FTL calculations underway. I'll have them in a minute." "We don't have a minute, Ron!" "If I don't do this correctly, we'll lose everyone." "And if you take your time, they'll fire that thing again!"

* * *

Eos racked a shotgun's rump before pointing it at Cavil. "Enough. We tried it your way. We do it MY way. I have a Mobile Suit in the main hangar. If you want to destroy Galactica, take it and do the job!"

Cavil scoffed "I will… just wait for when the Colonials come knocking." He said, marching away. " _Then_ you'll want to kill Adama as quick as Fracking possible!"

"I doubt anyone could calculate an FTL jump in a planet's atmosphere within the shield. After all, there are so many variables."

* * *

"Ok, gravity, atmospheric pressure and about 800 different things are taken into acount. Just so you know, this was NOT easy. That positron shield makes this trickier then any normal atmo jump."

Jaden grinned before he saw a trio of Lich-Class corvettes rush at the morningstar, intending to ram it. One might not kill the Ms, but three would. Before Jaden could fire at them, 600cm shells slammed into each one, blowing two of them apart as the crippled Pegasus reentered the fight, a few of her guns still operational.

"Takeo, Pegasus Actual: take out that railcannon!"

"With pleasure, Apollo!" Jaden shouted. "Everyone, sync FTL computers with Ron, hold onto something, and prepare for hard contact! This could get bumpy!"

THe strike force soon jumped, one by one before they entered the combat zone.

"All players, Psycho: blow those AA emplacements apart before they finally get off their asses!"

* * *

Alarms went off inside the mountain fortress. "What the hell is that?"

Eos looked at a screen showing a readout.

"An allied strike force is inside the shield! But how?! It would take a hybrid to make the correct calculations to get even one ship inside the shield!"

" _They don't NEED a fucking Hybrid, you idiot!_ " Cavil shouted on the comms. " _They have PINKERTON. WHY ELSE DO YOU THINK I TOLD YOU TO KILL THEM FIRST?!_ "

Pinkerton? The hyper-intelligent bastard just wouldn't DIE, would he?

The Colonials were hitting AA guns en masse, allowing the Raptors and Vipers free operation over the base.

And once they were done destroying the positron barrier, they could nuke the cannon.

"To hell with this. Prepare my Mobile suit. I'll deal with Pinkerton myself."

* * *

"Colonel, we got almost no AA cover. Just one or two emplacements."

Ron scoffed. The Colonials were known to overly fortify, meaning they didn't think this was smart.

"Raptors, land Marines and destroy those reflectors."

" _Roger that! Heading down!_ " The various Raptors dived down to the Martian surface, moving as close to the facility as they could before the hatches opened, and they began pouring out Marines and ground forces as they charged the Cylon defenses.

"Well, this should be fun-" A beam impacted a Raptor, sending it down crashing before exploding.

"The frak?"

" _You have been a thorn in my side for_ FAR _too long, Pinkerton!_ " Ron grimaced.

"Cavil. I thought you Cylons didn't like using technology you didn't make yourself."

A gray, vaguely-Gundam-looking Mobile Suit flew towards the Morgan. " _For you, I'll make an exception_!"

"Ron hang-" Jaden began, before another beam shot past Morningstar.

" _Perhaps Cavil was right..._ " He turned to see another rather Gundam-esc mobile suit emerge from the mountain. " _Killing you sooner than later may be best after all!_ "

"Oh, that's just great. We'll keep these idiots occupied: strike team, continue your attack!" Ron drew a beam saber as Cavil raged, rushing at him.

" _This ends today_ , human!"

"Oh, on that, you're right, Cavil!"

* * *

 **Ron the True Fan: (Union by Sabaton plays in the background) Cavil, you made a MISTAKE...**

 **117Jorn: One shall stand, one shall Fall!**

 **Ron the True Fan: Certainly right about that fall...**

 **Ja Ne!**


	21. Chapter 20: To Hell and Back

**Battlestar Galactica**

* * *

The flight pods were fraked, but Galactica could still fight, as proven by her engaging no fewer then three baseships at once, supported by the Dominion.

And she was WINNING.

"All batteries, continue firing on Baseship Gamma! AAA, focus on missiles inbound on the Dominion; we can tank a nuke, they can't!" The ancient battlestar refused to give in, damage be DAMNED.

She took out 4 baseships in her first engagement, taking limited damage. Throughout the war, the Cylons grew to FEAR this ship.

It was why, during Raptor Talon, they brought in eight baseships just to deal with Galactica! Even as the Cylons thew litterally everything they had at the Battlestar, the old warship still fied on.

Was this her final battle? Yes. But her crew wouldn't have it any other way: not being turned into a some old and aging museum, but fighting, kicking and screaming all the way down To hell and back.

 **(BGM: To Hell and Back by sabaton)**

"Hull breach, frame 54, deck 20! We're venting atmosphere on that deck, as well as we have fires raging on that deck!"

"Vent the deck into space after evacing anyone in there! Continue firing at Baseship Gamma! I want that damn thing destroyed!" Adama looked at the CIC of his beloved ship.

There was a small fire raging on the second level, half the displays were fried...

Yet this warship, this _battlestar_ , refused to give in.

In the old days of intercolonial war, battlestars were grand battleships, legends in their own right.

And in actuality, _Galactica_ wasn't called a battlestar at launch. Nash gave her that title after blowing up four baseships in her first engagement. She EARNED that name.

And here she was, 60 years later, continuing to earn it.

"Keep it up, _Galactica_. Keep it up!"

* * *

Dozens of Vipers, Sidewinders and ZAFT F-57 Swallows, developed from the Core Splendor, fought over Olympus Mons against Cylon Raiders and Martian Mobile Suits.

In the middle of this melee, four machines fought for the future of humanity.

"Godsdamn it, DIE ALREADY, CAVIL!"

" _No! YOU DIE!_ " Cavil shouted, his Cylon Gundam's arms retracting revealing a pair of beam chainguns which unleashed upon the Morgan - which skillfully dodged his attacks with the same level any Colonial Ace would.

"You have LOST, Cavil. You can't stop us from blowing up that shield and that cannon's not going to change anything!"

"You would think so!"

Meanwhile, Jaden fought the other Gundam-class MS while dodging shots. "You must be related to that bastard Pinkerton to be fighting like this!"

Jaden groaned at that. Start one orgy with a bunch of Cylons and everyone starts calling him Ron's grandson. "Fuck you, you destiny-worshiping moron." He muttered, activating the railguns on the hips of the Morningstar as it fired at Eos's mobile suit - seemingly based off of the Delta Astray from its design, only more dangerous with HiMAT wings.

" _I am trying to assure humanity's survival! To create a fusion-_ " Jaden hit the comms, turning off the link to Eos's machine.

"I've had it up to here with hearing those fucking monologues..." he muttered, raising his shield to avoid a swing from Eos's Delta Astray.

" _Commander Takeo, we have a problem_!" he switched to the Colonial frequency, putting him in contact with every Colonial unit. "What is it, Athena?"

" _The shield's dropping. I think the cannon's going to fire again_!" "Take it out!" " _We don't have the firepower, sir: you have to get a warning out_!"

He then made the connection as he traced the course of the cannon.

To a familiar, battered, beloved battlestar.

"Oh, fuck me. _GALACTICA_ , TAKE EVASIVE ACTION!"

Too little...

The cannon fired.

Too late.

* * *

Adama knew it was coming: he didn't need any warning.

My ship or my crew.

Adama could save _Galactica_ at the cost of his crew. Or he could save them at the cost of the battlestar.

"Mr. Geata, execute the jump!" "Sir, we can't with the flight pods extended!" "We all knew _Galactica_ wasn't coming back from this. JUMP!"

Gaeta cursed "ALL HANDS BRACE!" He shouted, as the pre-programmed FTL Coordinates were hit, and _Galactica_ jumped - narrowly missing the Slug by mere _seconds_.

The slug tore into the two baseships, missing the Dominion by meters.

" _Dominion_ to _Galactica_!" Natarle then looked to her left.

To see a nightmare.

The battlestar twisted, contorted, much to her horror.

The flight pods undilated, moving freely before internal explosions near the engines went off. As far as the Terrans and Colonials were concerned, the battle was over.

Because _Galactica_ was more important.

The sublights shut down before they kicked back in, weakly pushing the glorious ship.

Within CIC, Adama climbed back to his feet, rubbing out some blood in his eye "Report!"

"We broke her back… " Tigh growled, as he too sat upwards. "But… we're alive… mostly… "

She wasn't coming back from this.

On a similar note, the authors actually felt sick writing what happened to _Galactica_.

Back with the plot, Adama looked at the DRADIS. "All hands, abandon ship. Take every shuttle and Raptor and get the hell out of here."

Tigh looked at his old friend. "What about you?" "Leave my Viper. I'll be the last one off. After I avenge _Galactica's_ death."

Tigh didn't get it. Until he did.

"You're gonna slam _Galactica_ into that fraking thing."

"Get that shield down. I'll take care of the rest."

Tigh stared at Adama, but knew no matter what he said.. He wasn't going to change his mind. "...you make it back in one piece, you hear me?" He said.

"I plan on it."

* * *

Ron fired a full burst at the Cylon Gundam, but did nothing more then scratch the paint. "Fraking DIE already!"

"Y _our species created us! We're your 'children', so our duty is to replace you_!"

"You made a mistake, Cavil!" The two Gundams locked sabers before Ron used the Mirage Colloid 'wings of light' to blind Cavil long enough to damage the bastard's thrusters.

"We're not gods!"

" _FRAK YOU_!"

* * *

Adama stood at the helm before gripping the controls and sending the old girl into her final mission.

Save the world. What else was new?

The computers had the preprogrammed course and would correct on the way down. The Admiral paused to look at CIC before saluting the command center.

It was the right thing to do.

"Goodbye, _Galactica_. It's been an honor."

He ran out of CIC, heading for the port flight pod.

* * *

Jaden was _very_ glad he muted Eos's comms, because he knew he was probably going on some massive rant against him, the colonials and all that shit.

But he honestly didn't care. He just wanted to see this idiot _die_.

"If I ever hear another loon talking about some stupid Destiny plan again, it'll be too soon..." Jaden muttered, as he slammed Eos's Astray into the martian surface of Olympus - the machine quickly getting back up as they continued to exchange blows. THe two then climbed upwards, clashing sabers all the while before his scanners picked up a massive object.

And it had Galactica's IFF code.

And was heading towards him at OH FUCK NO speed.

JAden looked up to see _Galactica's_ red-hot armored nose heading straight for him.

"THE FUCK?!"

" _Uh, Jaden...tell me I'm having a nightmare._ "

"No… neither am I..." Jaden muttered, before looking at Eos's machine - which also looked up in shock. "...but she's taking _them_ down with her..." he sped forward in his stupor, and swiftly grabbed its back thrusters, and ripped them off of the machine - before drawing out his beam sabers, and shredding off the Astray's arms and legs, and kicked it down to the surface. "Ron! Let's go!"

Ron transformed into MA mode as he left Cavil's crippled Gundam to die as Galactica slammed into Eos' machine first, followed by Cavil's, destroying and killing them both as a Viper launched from Galactica's port pod. " _Psycho, Husker: requesting escort_." " _BILL? Oh, frak_."

Jaden could not tear his eyes from _Galactica_ as she slammed into the mountain, destroying the railcannon, but before it could get worse, the cannon fired.

"RUN!" _Galactica_ was sent part way out before flipping over multiple times, landing on her sublight engines before landing belly-first on the slopes, the hull breaking apart as she slid. With one chunk of the armor slamming right into Eos's machine, crushing it under its weight.

Jaden was finally able to tear his gaze from _Galactica_ before he saw the alarms… _Galactica's_ reactors were going overload. And after all the modifications they made…

...Oh. _FUCK!_

"RON WE NEED TO BOLT! SHE'S GONNA BLOW!" Jaden shouted, as he darted away from the crashing _Galactica_.

"Admiral, dock with the Morgan: I can jump us into orbit!" Instead, the Admiral kicked on the afterburners, ascending higher into the atmosphere before the two Gundams transformed into MA mode and flew upwards, joining him before Galactica's engineering section exploded, sending the lighter parts of the remaining hull flying in other directions.

Jaden heard retching over the radio. He couldn't blame Ron for being sick.

He just watched a ship he poured his very being into die.

"This is Blockade: interdictors are down! Three Cylon ships just jumped out-correction, four! Frak, a resurrection ship just jumped out!"

Jaden chuckled "That won't matter… once we kill the Resurrection Hub here on Mars." He said, glancing back as _Galactica_ 's explosion caught the Railcannons in the blast radius. "Takeo to all units: the Railcannons have been dealt with."

" _Understood, Commander. ...What about the Admiral_?"

"Mercury, H _usker: I'm fine. But_ Galactica's _gone_."

"... _Orders_."

" _Nuke the frakers. Leave no fraking Cylon survivors!_ "

"You heard the man! Weapons free! FOR GALACTICA!"

"FOR FUCKING _GALACTICA!_ " Jaden shouted, " _Avenger_ , drop the Tsar's!"

" _Fuck, the hell yes! DROPPING!_ "

It was as if the heavens opened up and unleashed all fury upon Olympus, as every single starship in orbit fired every last nuclear weapon they had available down upon the volcanic base of the Librarians. None more vindictive than the _Avenger_ , who dropped down a hail of the largest bombs humanity has ever created: Tsar Bombs.

There would be no Martian dawn.

* * *

 **Earth - three weeks later**

* * *

The loss of life was rather tame, for the Colonials: less then 10000 naval personnel were dead, less then double that number on the ground with no civilian losses.

For the Terrans...it was not as fortunate. Over one million men, women and children were dead thanks to the Cylons.

But the biggest loss, in terms of morale...was the battlestar _Galactica_.

When a people have seen a ship survive and thrive in war, they come to regard it, rightly or wrongly, as invincible. As indestructible.

It was why the Colonials were so savage in their counterattack on Mars: only now was the planet secure. Not one Cylon was intact. No Librarian Works personnel were surviving combatants.

Only the Junk Guild could match the rage they felt.

But that was not comfort, as a Resurrection ship had gotten away with 23 Cylon ships. All badly damaged, but with their databases intact.

"We can't disband this alliance." The Livadia Palace was famous for being the sight of the Yalta Conference, now it was famous for another reason, as the leaders of ZAFT, the Orb Union, the member-nations of the Earth Alliance, and of course the Colonials now gathered, sitting side by side together. "For the past few months… we've proven a critical point to all of humanity… that we - Natural, Coordinator, Colonial… we all can survive _anything_ if we work together as one… by putting aside old grudges, we can work together to forge a better future for everyone… "

This was proven by the many men and women wearing the uniforms of the allies, now wearing shared universal rank pins on their collars, alongside their normal ones, in the case of the Colonials.

Kira Yamato now shared two commissions with the Orb Defense forces and with ZAFT, both as a flag officer. Athrun had a Colonial commission as well as his Orb one, Luna and shinn...you get the idea.

"The Cylon threat still exists. With Cavil's escape, we still have a threat hanging over our heads. And we cannot and will not forget Djbril and his racist cohorts! Therefore...the leaders of the Earth Alliance, the PLANTs and Orb have decided, along with myself...to formalize this alliance."

A new flag was raised, with three delta chevrons interlocked below the modified emblems of the Earth Alliance OMNI Enforcer, ZAFT's hourglass and the Colonial starbird, all as one.

"We are independent of one another, yet we are one. And the name of this organization reflects this. From this day forth… together, we are now the Independent State Allied Forces!"

The declaration was met by a roaring applause, as those watching all clapped in agreement to the name and what it now represented. At long last, the void between Naturals, Coordinators and Colonials have ended. From now on… they were all simply Humanity as a whole.

Ron sighed. "I supposed I'll have to speed up your Colonial citizenship papers." Jaden blinked. "Buh?" "Well, polygamy is legal on all worlds..."

"...goddamn it, Ron..."

* * *

Deep space

* * *

The void contained a small fleet of warships, all based on the Earth Alliance's design. With one exception.

A six-armed baseship. On board was Lord Djibril of LOGOS, sipping his wine.

"Gentlemen, we have some time before we must reenter the field of war against the Coordinators." Yuna Seiran nodded. "We will have to plant agents, steal new technologies. Anything to keep us in the lead against the Colonials."

"It will take years. It will take time. But we WILL return to Earth. And we WILL cleanse the Coordinators from the face of the universe! For the preservation of our blue and pure world!" All the LOGOS personnel raised a glass in a toast.

" _Lord Djibril, this is command, we're picking up a number of warships that appear to be of Cylon design._ "

Djibril smirked slightly "Then _deal_ with them, Command." He said, "Though please try to capture a few if you can… especially if they have one of those… _resurrection_ ships..."

"That's the thing, sir: all of them are damaged. Especially a resurrection ship."

"Excellent! Send the Centurions to take command."

"That will be easier then you think, sir...they're surrendering to us. The Cylon is contacting us, requesting to speak with you."

Djbril hmmed. "Escort him here, then."

* * *

If Cavil was happy about anything, it was that that arrogant bastard Eos wasn't with him.

Even if he had to side with LOGOS, with more humans, he would get his revenge against the Colonials.

Though looking at how Djibril just staired at him, he was beginning to have second thoughts. "So… you are the leader of the Cylons, Hm?" He asked. "I was expecting something more… menacing… "

"I was made in the fraking image of my creator's mother. I'd prefer something more..." He rapped his knuckles against one of his escorting Centurions. "Metallic."

"Clearly. And I would prefer a universe without coordinators. And Colonials. Perhaps we can come to an arrangement. Your ships are VERY interesting. I would love to know where you got them. And how we can make more."

"We're securing an old base of ours - 242 Apollid." Cavil explained, "Has dockyards to build more of our ships, plus hundreds of older decommissioned units and ships."

"We'll need the coordinates." Cavil shook his head. "I don't trust humans. My own kind, because we're all machines, I do. But not you. You're so feeble and weak-minded. You lack the will to do what a machine can do."

Yuna sighed. "Look, Cavil, we don't like you. And you hate us! So what? The enemy of my enemy is my friend. We'll give you whatever you want. In exchange, you give us the tools we need to destroy the Colonials."

Djibril smiled at that. He knew there was a reason he was taken along other then his loyalty.

Cavil thought about it. "After they're all dead, we're enemies." "May the best...being win, in that case. Escort him to the command deck."

The Centurion then spoke, surprising Cavil. "By your command." They soon escorted him out.

Djibril looked at Seiran as soon as the Cylon was out of earshot. "Are you sure you can hack their resurrection network?"

"The holobands work on the same system, Lord Djibril. I may not be the most...technologically inclined person from Orb, but I'm not an ignorant savage." Yuna said. "I have placed much more… _tech-savvy_ personnel in charge of hacking the network, and another division dedicated to repurposing it for _our_ useage. As the Cavil loyalists die, we box them and replace them with _our_ loyalists. And when Cavil himself dies… well… one less nuisance for us to deal with."

"Good. Cavil is an arrogant bastard. The same could be said of us, but the difference is...we adapt. He won't."

He already knew Cavil needed to die, sooner rather then later.

So why not get it over with?

"As soon as we arrive...deal with him." The Centurions all nodded. "By your command."

"Good. Now...We deal with Cavil. After that...the Colonials will pay."

* * *

 **Ron the True Fan: This is not going to end well.**

 **117Jorn: One story ends, while another begins!**

 **Ron the True Fan: All of this has happened before...**

 **Ja Ne!**


	22. Chapter 21: Northern Star

**Jupiter orbit, June 12th, Cosmic Era 74**

* * *

Jaden was impressed as he approached the battlestar under construction.

Polaris was nearly complete: the only thing left being the installation of her AI core, which was nearly done. But that was nothing. Her first three sisters, only one being named yet, were nearly ready for their trials. He questioned why BS-158 was named Aquila, but that wasn't for him to guess.

"Commander Takeo, this is Polaris flight control: we have you on DRADIS. Please slow to 50 kph and standby for hands-on landing. Call the ball."

"Roger that _Polaris_ , I've got this," He said, as he guided his Raptor towards the port flight pod of the massive battlestar. He smiled just looking at it, the vessel was the pride and joy of the newly christened ISAF Starfleet, the successor to the title of Flagship ever since _Galactica_ was destroyed in the last war. The months that followed were hands-down the most peaceful months the Earth Sphere has enjoyed since before the whole Coordinator controversy kicked off.

She was almost ready for launch. Which was why he was here.

The craft docked as Jaden noticed dozens of brand new Viper Mk VIIEA1s, enhanced Mk 7Es, being loaded into their posts, along side more CDF-01A1 Darts and, to his surprise, mobile suits from ZAFT, Orb and the alliance.

" _Commander Takeo, Colonel Pinkerton is expecting you in CIC. Admiral Adama will be transferring in from_ Mercury _in fifteen minutes to begin her shakedown run_."

The Raptor came to a stop as Jaden got out. "Can't wait to see her."

* * *

"Make sure those lines are hooked in! We can't exactly run this ship without the AI!"

The lights dimmed before the new holographic systems came online, displaying a young, slightly dour-looking woman in a Colonial Fleet uniform in a small corner of the plotting table.

That was Jaden's idea from some FPS series from the 21st Century. Ron didn't see the point, but Earth had AIs and hadn't suffered a rebellion.

So he went with it. "Good afternoon. State your name for the record, please."

The AI hologram nodded slightly. " _I am AI 215-P5-Iota, shorthand: Icarus. I am the artificial intelligence assigned to the Battlestar_ Polaris." "Until you choose otherwise, of course. Assume your station, please."

" _Assuming AI control. All sections, standby_."

At this point, Jaden entered CIC, looking slightly surprised, as it wasn't a _Mercury_ -type CIC, but closer to _Galactica's_. "I assume you didn't get lost on your way to CIC, Jaden. It would be rather embarrassing, seeing as you designed the ship with me."

"Nah, minor delay… " Jaden muttered.

"Had to do something with Meer's… _surprise_?"

Jaden paused, blushed, and then glared at Ron. "...you helped her, didn't you..."

* * *

 **24 Hours Earlier - GENESIS Alpha**

* * *

Jaden sighed as he stepped into his - and Meer's - quarters of the station. "Meer! I'm back!"

"Hey Jaden!" Meer said, sitting down at the table, with a rather… mischivous look on her face.

"...what is it?" Jaden asked, suddenly feeling rather… _unerved_ …

"Well, love..." She said, smirking slightly. "I had a chat with some… CCE people, who told me of a certain… _misadventure_ you had on a certain Baseship..."

"I… uh..."

"Involving a number of Humanoid Cylons? Specifically Numbers Threes, Sixes and Eights?"

Jaden gulped. "L-Look, I-I can explain,"

"Oh, _they_ explained it quite well… right girls?" Meer asked, glancing over to the side - Jaden following her gaze… and his jaw promptly collapsed as on their bed was all of the Cylons from that Baseship, sitting there, all gazing at him rather… _lustfully_.

Jaden paled "Uuhhhhhh..."

"I tracked them down, and… well… after a long talk we agreed that… we were all willing… to _share_ …."

"...Abuh?"

* * *

"I _may_ have told Meer about Colonial marriage laws."

Jaden groaned. "Thanks a LOT. NOW she's reading up on how to get it!"

"Look at it this way: it was going to happen sooner or later. Best to get it over with."

" _Shuttle arriving from Battlestar_ Mercury _. Flag officer on board_."

"Here comes the big man himself… " Jaden said.

And with that came a crowd of reporters, who, as calmly as possible, swarmed into CIC, cameramen swinging their bulky units around.

"Who invited the press?" "President Roslin. Just because our militaries are semi-independent of one another doesn't mean that collective command of ISAF passes to Admiral Adama. He's a popular man." Too popular, if this was the price.

* * *

Adama, Tigh and other major _Galactica/Pegasus_ command staff ( _Pegasus_ , after being repaired, being sold to Orb as their version of the _Polaris_ , renamed _Izanami_ ) sat in the tram car, heading for CIC.

"I don't like it." "Pinkerton designed this ship for a crew of 10000, Dad: trams are the best way to move larger numbers of people. There's still hallways, but since this ship's being loaded for war, they're probably crowded with people and equipment."

Lee had been reassigned to Polaris as the ship's commander, though he would most likely be working closer with the CAG, Starbuck, as his father would take command of day-to-day operations. Until _Aquila_ or one of the new _Nova_ -Class battlestars was operational, he was stuck with his father and Tigh.

"Message from _Polaris_ … its from Takeo." The tram operator said, "its detailing an… heh, alternate flight path to dock with an airlock to avoid the press. Your call, Admiral."

"Do it: we have a job to do." The tram came to a halt as it moved to another track, heading down the alternate path. It took longer, but the tram arrived at the alternate backup stop near the command deck.

Adama exited first, leading his senior officers into CIC, which looked more like a modernized version of _Galactica's_. Ron stood at the plotting table, near an annoyed Jaden, who was glaring at him. "Admiral, as Field Marshall of the Colonial Corps of Engineers, I am authorized to transfer this ship to the regular navy."

"As commander in chief of the armed forces, I accept command of this ship from the CCE."

A hologram of a woman in a Colonial uniform appeared near a corner of the plotting table. " _Transfer of command noted_."

Adama looked at the holographic image "So… this is the… A.I I was told about?" He asked.

" _Yes Captain._ " The A.I said, " _I am AI 215-P5-Iota, shorthand: Icarus. I am the artificial intelligence assigned to the Battlestar_ Polaris. _It's a pleasure to finally meet you, Admiral Adama._ "

Tigh leaned over "We _sure_ this is a good idea?" He whispered, "What's stopping her from… you know..."

"Well, for one, the Asimov system. Three laws: one, never directly harm a human, two, never disobey an order unless conflicting with law one, though here in a military context, the only people she'll be killing know exactly what they're getting into. Third law is self-preservation unless conflicting with laws one and two. That and we're treating her like a member of the crew, not a glorified light switch." Ron looked at the hologram. "No offense."

" _No taken, Colonel. Shall I begin pre-flight checks_?"

Adama got over his shock and settled in. He knew this would be a reality for a while. "Please do. Then lock onto _Mercury_ and prepare to overtake."

Jaden looked at Ron. "What's going on?" "Changing of the guard. The new flagship has to speed past the last, sort of symbolic. _Galactica_ had that happen with _Atlantia_ 'overtaking' her. It's something that all flagships in the Colonial Fleet do."

Polaris then shifted, moving at minimum speed away from the yard as the airlocks disengaged. " _Mercury, Polaris_ : we are coming up from your aft quarter." " _Confirmed,_ Polaris _. Slowing to one half._ "

The larger prototype battlestar accelerated, speeding towards her 'ancestor' before flying overhead.

" _Flagship status changed. Welcome to the fleet,_ Polaris."

"Good to be back, _Mercury_. Preparing for jump to Jovian Orbit." It was a simple test of her new FTL Jump Drives: a milk run from Jupiter, then Pluto, and then the long jump to the Cyrannus System.

" _FTL spun up. Jump locked_."

Ron looked at the readouts. "Icarus, can you send me the data on another terminal?" " _Of course_."

Jaden joined Ron at another post to look at the FTL drive readouts before Adama ordered jump prep.

"Sublight?" "Go!" "Tactical?" "Go!" "DRADIS?" "All ships are clear!"

"Very well. Mr. Gaeta, jump the ship." Ron and Jaden both looked up just as Gaeta turned the key.

"ABORT THE JUMP!"

Too little, too late.

 _Polaris_ disappeared in a flash of light.

Her destination...unknown.

* * *

 **Ron the True Fan: Holy shit that took a long time to finish.**

 **117Jorn: Now, where could they have gone… what's with that glowy light - ohhhhhh….**

 **Ron the True Fan: This won't end well, seeing as the next fic is Heaven and Hell URE 3. But everything is about to change…**

 **117Jorn: So… until then…**

 **Ja Ne!**


End file.
